May your path be green and golden
by Lurking Casually
Summary: The war is over. Voldemort is dead. Then why hasn't it ended. Elfling!Harry Elfling Harry .R&R. May be Slash/Romance (I am Goth Girl in Pink. Don't worry, I have just changed my pen name)
1. Prologue

The war was over. It was done... it had to be done, for he didn't know if he could continue if it wasn't.

There was pain, though. Why was there pain? Even though the fully aware part of his mind knew that for the most part, everything was done, there was still so much blinding, agonising pain surrounding him and all those around him. The injured saviour of the wizarding world gazed out over the bloodied grounds of Hogwarts, mind still reeling as he stood stock still, eyes roaming the scene before him.

The once proud structure now lay in ruins, bodies littering the earth around it. The battle had broken out as evening set, and continued through the night in vicious wand-on-wand combat from adults and students, Death Eaters and the Order alike. Now, as dawn filtered in, casting away the darkness, the horrors of the night settled in and the sight seemed to worsen; as if they were suddenly becoming real. Voldemort was dead, the reign of terror was over, but at what cost? How many souls had given themselves for not only the cause, but to him? Pain flared up his side as he moved, and with a sharp gasp he staggered and dragged himself to a nearby tree, one of the few that remained standing.

Memories ran fresh through his mind from the battle, and the faces of those he loved who fell to defend him flashed before his eyes. Luna, struck down from behind by Dolohov by the Killing Curse, and he was thankful that it had been quick and painless, Luna didn't deserve torture. Even in death she had looked peaceful, and she lay in rest besides Neville. Neville, poor Neville, had been killed as he ran to her aid, hit by a wayward sectumsempra curse cast by Rabastan Lestrange. A true Gryffindor at the end, Neville had fought like a hero.

With grim satisfaction, he had the pleasure of watching as Lestrange later fell at Hermione's hand.

He let out a dry sob as he thought of Hermione… she had always had something to say, had been a major part in the downfall of Voldemort. He had no doubt that if not for Hermione, there would still be several Horcruxes out there, and he certainly would not be alive right now if she had not constantly helped keep him from harm. She had died attempting to heal a small fifth year who had returned to Hogwarts in secret, stabbed in the back by Bellatrix. An attack of pure cowardice Hermione could not hope to defend herself against. The witch, completely deranged, had seemed to hold a grudge against Hermione ever since the incident at Malfoy manor, and had gone for her every time they had encountered each other thereafter.

The memories drifted once more and he shifted slightly, leaning quite heavily upon the tree now as his head span. Ron. His best mate, with the emotional range of a teaspoon, as Hermione had once put it. A bitter smile graced the young man's lips; they must have been blind, those two, not to see what was between them. Everybody else could and it would have only been a matter of time, had they lived. Despite his ignorance when it came to girls though, Ron had quickly matured during the war, taking on new spells at an almost alarming rate to defend his family and friends. Perhaps Ron would have lived, he thought, had taught him that bone-shattering spell.

Ginny; his beautiful, brave Ginny. She had been told that she was too young to fight, that she had to stay in the Room of Requirement. Of course she hadn't done so, and he couldn't help but wish that she had in some small part of his mind, though he knew she wouldn't be Ginny if she had. He had not been there when she fell, but now as he stood over her pale body, he knew which curse had ended her short life, and even the Death Eater who had sent the curse her way. Her peaceful face cast a look of sleep about her, and were it not for the stillness of her chest he might have thought that it was so. Her body was relaxed, and her eyes were closed. Those eyes, her mothers brown eyes... he clutched his hand over his heart as he felt the sharp pang of something close to heartbreak tear through his chest. He regretted how he had treated her, and dropping to his knees he pressed a final, tear-drenched kiss to her cool lips. He didn't have the strength to stand anyway.

There were so many that he knew nothing of, though the silence of the grounds hinted at more grief to come. Mrs Weasley; she had been like a mother to him. Fred and George; they had always seemed to make the best out of a bad situation. Remus; he had been like a beloved uncle and his final tie to his lost parents. Bill, Kingsley, Tonks, Collin, Dean, Oliver, Katie, Angelina….

Exhaustion finally overrode him; the unnaturally strong young man, barely more than a boy, known to the world as the Boy-Who-Lived. As he sank into blessed oblivion, Harry Potter wondered if that would any longer be the case.

**First of all, I would like to give credit to, and thank, my fantastic Beta MaraudingManaged for helping me go over my chapters and clean up this fiction. **

**I would also like to thank all of my readers****, and especially my reviewers,** that have continued to follow my story, despite numerous delays and movings _(You know what I mean)_** of the fic. **

**I'm aware that I havn't updated in a while, this is due to some technical difficulties...I'm not kidding, there were some communication errors that meant my Beta and I wern't able to get chapters to each other. This has been amended now and I hope to update soon. Rest assured that this fic has not been abandoned, and neither will it be any time soon. Have faith.**


	2. Waking and Meetings

When Harry roused sometime later, it was so quiet that the groan escaping his lips was almost imperceptible. Rolling onto his back in a single, fluid movement that surprised him considering his wounds, he opened his eyes. He regretted the action instantly and quickly shut them again, against the harsh glare of the sun, rolling back onto his side so that the bright light couldn't filter through his eyelids. After the darkness of the night before, and the slumber he had just woken from, the sunlight played havoc on his unusually sensitive eyes.

Slowly, this time taking into consideration the non-so-subtle change in lighting, Harry opened his eyes, squinting first, and then opening them fully as the lingering darkness cleared. He pushed himself into a sitting position, gasping slightly as his wounds once again seemed to open and scream, he would have to do something about that later if his wand was still in tact.

Pushing the thought aside, Harry examined the area around him - he was no longer at Hogwarts, that was certain. Perhaps it had only been a nightmare after all, perhaps none of it had actually happened. Maybe they were still out looking for Horcruxes, and Ron and Hermione would turn up any moment; Hermione would scold him for wandering off whilst Ron would stand in the background, sending him looks of genuine sympathy from behind her.

It was as he looked around that Harry realised he wasn't wearing his glasses, yet he could see perfectly – each leaf was in stark relief upon the trees, and each individual blade of grass looked as sharp as any knife. He was so used to wearing his glasses, those once taped, then magically repaired frames that he had had since childhood, that being without them felt somewhat like losing a part of him. He had thought that, considering he had always worn glasses in the Muggle and magical world, and considering his Pureblood father had done the same, there was no way to simply mend one's eyesight by magic. So it came as a shock to him that it had improved so suddenly, seemingly overnight – it was something he just couldn't understand.

Harry fully noticed now that he was in a small clearing, surrounded by green trees, and green grass, and well, a lot of green. Near where he sat was a small pool filled with clear water, a single leaf floating upon the surface. It looked clean enough to drink from, the strategic part of Harry's mind thought, that would be good if it had been real after all, and he really was alone in the forest.

Harry ran a hand though his long hair, and then then froze in shock: he didn't have long hair, his was short. Now, though, it hung just below his breast in soft and dark strands. Now that he thought about it, shouldn't he be a bit taller? I mean, he thought, I know I'm not Ron, but I was definitely not this short. Scrambling painfully to his feet, once more upsetting his wounds, Harry stumbled towards the pool and collapsed onto his knees. The numbness he had felt as the battle ended had vanished, leaving him feeling quite weak, and quite vulnerable. If he were attacked, Harry doubted he could defend himself in his current condition. His fears where not elevated when he glanced into the mirror-like surface of the water, and child-like green eyes and softened features stared back. Well that explains the height, a small voice in his head said, sounding rather amused at the situation. Harry quickly banished that voice, in favour of the rising panic that surged from his stomach to his throat. Harry leant over the edge of the pool once more, staring at his reflection and analysing his features.

Harry was pale. Of course, he had always been so, though never to this magnitude; his skin was as he would have imagined Snow White's to have been in the fairytale books that Dudley had received but never read. His hair was still ebony, though longer. It was his size, though, that baffled him the most: his build was that of a small seven year old, only slightly smaller than he had been the last time he had been seven. He knew phrasing sounded odd, when it ran through his head 'The last time I was seven', but Harry remembered his childhood in such stark clarity that he could not help but compare that boy to the one that stared back at him in the water. He was slim for a child, though that may have been due to the length of time he had now gone without eating. It was true that the hunt for the Horcruxes had seemed to take over his life, but it also took a toll on his body. Missing meals at a time, which was, he thought foolish considering who he had to face and what was resting on him succeeding,changed who he was – or could have been. In the place of a normal teenage boy was a lean, hard-eyed, bitter young man; face gaunt, but eyes shining brightly. His eyes. They were still the same startling emerald Harry had inherited from his mother, Lily, but seemed to appear out of place on his face, as if they were too old. His face was pretty, almost feminine in appearance, with high cheekbones and full, dark lips. It was then he noticed his ears. They were not something he would usually check at such a time. He didn't think about his ears very much; in fact he was probably unlikely to have even washed behind them in a while, let alone examined them in detail. However, there was something about them that just drew his eyes there, and then he discovered that they were now, in fact, pointed. He had pointed ears.

His first thought was something along the lines of please don't let me be some kind of house elf. It would certainly have explained the height, and the ears. He still looked distinctly human however, and the rising panic was quashed once more. As he sat and considered his appearance, he decided he resembled one of the elves that Muggles had in their stories for children; a somewhat blurred tale of dragons and trolls played in is mind as Harry forced himself to remain calm. Ducking his head, and cupping his hands, he slowly gathered water from the steam and splashed his face with the water. Whilst cold enough to shock him a little, it didn't have the desired effect and so in a moment of slight madness he dipped his head into the stream, pulling up a moment later, drenched but certainly more clear-minded. Once the residual haze of sleep and pain finally passed, Harry cupped his hands once more, using them to bring water from the pool to his mouth. He was parched, both mentally and physically exhausted, and in a body he simply could not believe was his own. Harry suddenly had to fight back the tears that were forming in his eyes as he finally understood the hopelessness of his situation. He was certain it had not been a dream now, it had been as real as the the earth he could feel beneath him.

Harry didn't know how long he sat there for, trapped in his thoughts, before he finally drew himself back to his uncomfortable state of reality. As distressing as everything was, he would get nowhere by losing control of himself, the way his body and certain parts of his mind were craving. The other part of his brain, the part that he had relied on throughout the ordeals of the past year, two years, maybe even since Voldemort returned, was telling him to pull himself together. How vulnerable was he making himself? Harry knew that he needed, primarily, to find out where he was, and look for somewhere he could stay until he worked out as much as was possible. He was in no state to just sit in the quiet, isolated clearing, and the fact he was now severely challenged with his height ensured he was extremely vulnerable.

Harry slowly brought himself to his feet and winced once more as he disturbed his wounded side, making a note to look at it and treat it if he could as soon as he was out of the open. His shirt pooled about his knees, lower on one side as the material hung precariously on one shoulder. Attempting to walk, he sighed as he tripped once more over his oversized jeans, shaking them off until he was free to walk. They would only hinder his escape, he logically considered, and the school shirt covered more than enough._ I could_, he thought, _try and shrink my clothes. A normal shrinking spell should do it! _ With the sudden burst of inspiration, Harry quickly set about looking for his wand. The boy searched for several minutes, becoming more and more frantic as he came to realise that it wasn't there any longer. He had lost his wand.

"Bloody brilliant!" He swore, running a frustrated hand through his hair, pulling at the strands. "I'm alone, with no wand, no bloody idea where I am and a kid's body!" The fear Harry had felt before had returned now with a vengeance, knotting in his stomach and making bile rise in his throat.

How was it that he, a once relatively independent person, was now so needy? Was it just because everything was gone now? Had he always been this reliant upon his friends and his family, both real (the Dursleys) or substitute (the Weasleys)? He had coped fairly well before, as a child, before he knew about his magic. Was it his reliance on magic to do everything for him the reason he was so panicked and lost now? Harry seriously believed that it was.

Harry's momentary state of contemplation was cut short as a sound to his right startled him, and his head snapped up immediately to stare in the direction of the noise. A man stood a small distance away at the edge of the clearing, looking down on him with surprised brown eyes. Harry's immediate gut reaction was one of fear, and he hurriedly scrambled to his feet, stumbling backwards away from the man. He had only moved a few steps when, to his horror, his leg gave way and his mind blanked.

A pained gasp left his lips as he pulled the cotton of his shirt up his thigh. The sight that met his eyes made him feel decidedly sick to his stomach. He hadn't paid the wound much attention, adamant that he could tend to it later when he had the time…and a wand. Now however, it became clear that he should have examined his leg more closely. The flesh was torn brutally; the jagged wound reaching from just bellow his knee on the left side and around his leg to the back of his upper thigh. Blood had been steadily seeping from the wound and now it mixed with the dried, clotted mess that had built up over hours and hours, causing almost unbearable pain.

The gasp from the far side of the clearing reminded Harry that he was not alone, and he turned his head once more to examine the stranger in full view. The man was tall, and Harry guessed that he would have towered above him even when he was fully grown. His hair, the hair that had appeared black in the shadows, could now be seen as a brownish colour, and his eyes were matching. Those eyes, Harry noted, flickered now from Harry's face to his leg, where blood still dripped from, and then back up again to meet his own green ones. There was concern on his face; and with his hands held up in a manner that suggested he meant Harry no harm, a part of him, the same one that had broken down earlier in his panic, desperately wished for this kind-looking stranger to help him, just this once.

However the other part of him, the part that had fought so long in the war, quickly reprimanded Harry that nobody could be trusted like that. How many people had gained his trust, only to abuse How much had been lost because he had been too trusting? _Then again_, that infuriatingly calm part of his mind stated frankly, _how much has been lost because you trusted so little?_

While Harry's dilemma raged, the man stepped closer still. A sigh escaped his lips, along with a stream of flowing syllables that caught Harry's attention, and he glanced up with a frown_. What on Earth was that?_

Estel had been travelling for almost a week now, and having left the eastern road almost three days ago in favour of a faster route through the surrounding woodland, he had come across a small glade. That in itself was nothing unusual, they were often used as resting places for travellers as there was usually clean water nearby. What _was _unusual, however, was the small child that occupied the glade, completely alone.

Estel had certainly not expected to find such a child, and was at a loss as to what he should do. The nearest human settlement was Bree, and that was almost a four day ride in the direction he had come from, but what if his parents were nearby, simply finding food or somewhere to tether horses? Estel shifted slightly, to get a better view of the child, but to his irritation he had managed to alert the young one to his presence. The child's head snapped up and a look of horror crossed his face as he pushed himself to hi feet and scrambled back a few steps. He hadn't moved very far, however, before he cried out in pain and seemed to collapse. The boy, for that was all he was, pulled back the oversized shirt he was wearing to reveal a rather horrific wound.

Estel felt bile rise in his throat, and turned his head away with a small whispered prayer to the Valar and Eru, for the poor child must be in intense pain. Estel stepped forward once more, desiring nothing more than to gather the child in his arms and heal him as best he could, before riding to Imaldris and to the healing powers of Elrond. His hope, however, appeared unlikely to come to pass.

The child looked up once more at him with the same terrified look in his eyes, such unusually bright green eyes that created a stark contrast with his almost translucent skin and dark hair. The movement, however, provided a startling revelation to Estel, for the child's hair had been tossed behind him with the quick turn of head, and distinctly leaf-shaped ears pointed through the remaining strands. The injured child was an Elfling!

Estel blinked slowly, quite seriously believing the boy would be gone when he opened his eyes again and that the whole thing had been a trick of the light. When he opened them his beliefs were proved wrong; the boy was still there and he was definitely an elf, a very young elf at that. Surely that was impossible? There hadn't been an elfling born in centuries, certainly not in his lifetime, and this elfling could only be 25 summers at most! His father had told him that the lives of Elves, long though they may be, were now not often blessed with children. Now, in these darkening days, it was rare for a child to be born to them, with fewer and fewer being born as the centuries passed. Any child born to the race of Elves was precious, his birth celebrated for many summers, and so he would have been guarded zealously by any elf.

So why was there an elfling alone in the woods, far from any civilisation, and with such grievous injuries? Faint bruises and scars decorated the child's neck, one across the hollow of his cheek bone, another resting below his eye. It made little sense! No elf would allow their child to come to such danger and pain, they would surely defend them to the death. This was a possibility, of course, however it did not make sure sense either; if the child's parents had somehow perished, then any other elf would gladly take the little one under their wing and raise him well to meet his parents one day in Valinor. Yet here, right in front of his eyes, was the evidence that it had somehow happened, with this little elfling that could not be over 25 summers.

Anger and worry flooded into his heart. The child had clearly been hurt, and the anger that burned brightly within him was to those people that had dared to hurt the child. It was clear the young one was an innocent soul and deserved no torture or harm. The worry, for that too was rampant within him, was for the elfling who was clearly hurt, and appeared to be walking the fine line between the waking and the sleeping worlds. His life was in sure danger, and it was with that thought that Estel made his decision. He would indeed take the child to Imaldris, and if his childhood there was any standard for the care and love a child may receive from the first-born, the elves were unlikely to leave the boy on his own for any more than was completely necessary. They would heal him with love and comfort, and teach him in ways his parents could no longer do.

Estel sighed to himself. This plan was all very well, but the boy was clearly still wary of him. "Who has done this to you, little one?" He spoke softly, the question floating in the still air of the clearing. Would the boy answer? Did he even wish to hear just how he came to this place alone?

He stepped forwards again, stilling as the child tensed up again. "Are you...well?". The boy merely continued to look meekly up at him with those baleful green eyes, as if expecting him to lash out suddenly and hurt him. Someone had absolutely hurt the child, that much was now clear, and that was why the boy expected to be hurt now. Anger flared withing him once more, before he pushed it down, this was not the time for rash actions.

Estel took more steps, stopping some two, maybe three feet away from the quivering child. Holding his hands out in a traditional, widely known gesture of 'I mean you no harm', he slowly crouched and met the child's gaze. Keeping his voice low and quiet, Estel spoke to the elfling again once more.

"Little one, I will not hurt you. You have my word."

Harry watched warily as the man knelt down to his own level, holding his hands before him in a sort of peace gesture

"I will not hurt you."

Harry didn't understand the words, but from the look in the man's eye, his posture, and the tone of voice he used as he spoke, Harry believed he was sincere enough to be getting on with. He didn't move his gaze as the man slowly reached out towards him, quietly evaluating the stranger further. His words were soothing, and there was no indication of attack, but Harry was well aware that it was no reason to trust blindly that he meant no harm. Even if he didn't, there was a rather large history, Harry thought, of adults trying to help him and doing more damage than if they'd left well alone.

Harry didn't move as the man raised a hand and tried to reach out to him. It was not until he brushed against Harry's arm that he reacted, drawing his eyes from the man's face as he instantly jerked away from the touch. Harry's eyes flickering to where the contact had occurred, before returning to his face. He wasn't going to make it easy for this stranger to do much of anything until he could guarantee his safety, and Harry knew that wouldn't necessarily be quick in coming as the man didn't speak English.

More words, languid and calming, flowed from the mouth of the man. Harry, again, didn't understand the words, but it didn't seem to be a question, so he continued to look directly into the man's eyes. There was concern lining the dark orbs, and his eyebrows were drawn into a frown. Harry watched as his eyes travelled down to examine his wound, and then as they moved back up to his face. He seemed to be pleading as he spoke again. What did he want? Harry sighed, it seemed the only way he would get anywhere would be to demonstrate he didn't speak the same language, and he considered what to say before quietly formulated a simple question. Harry was shocked at the hoarse quality of his voice.

"My name is Harry, who are you?

"Will you let me help you?" Estel begged. "Young one, you are grievously injured. Please? I beg of you to accept my aid!"

The elfling watched him intently, and looked as if he was considering a response. Estel held his breath as his mouth opened, and his voice dryly spoke into the quiet of the clearing. The words, however, were not at all what he expected to hear. Was that Westron? The common tongue from an elf? There was something not quite correct, however, as Estel attempted to understand his words.

" - name – Harry, who – you?"

So, Estel quickly considered, the common tongue is the nearest thing this 'Harry' understands. A human name and a human tongue! How utterly curious, Elrond will indeed wish to meet this young one. Quickly forming a simple answer, Estel used small hand gestures to accompany his words.

"Estel I am, Harry. May heal you, return home with me?"

Harry wavered for a moment, this man was both bigger and stronger than he was, his weapons were clearly visible, both on his person and on his…horse. Harry's brow furrowed slightly. People didn't commonly travel on horses did they? Nor did they carry swords now that Harry thought about it. But the matter remained, Harry hadn't found his wand, and in his current state he could not defend himself. If the man wished him harm, he could have surely done so already, and with very little difficulty. Why would he go to the trouble of pretending to help him, making a considerable attempt to communicate with him, if he was only going to hurt him in the end? It didn't make sense. Harry knew that for the time being, he would be safe with this Estel.

With this logic in mind, and the flaring pain in his leg a throbbing reminder of his state, Harry slowly nodded.

The man's eyes flooded with relief and sincere happiness. Harry watched as he walked back to his horse, withdrew something from the baggage tied onto the saddle, and returned with the small bundle to kneel in front of him. The man slowly gripped Harry's ankle and drew his leg out from his body, stretching the limb out so as to gain better access to the wound. What was he going to do? Harry held his breath and turned his head away, beginning to regret his decision already.

Estel sighed in relief. The young one had accepted his aid, for a moment he had not been sure that he would. He wouldn't have left him alone here, but if he acted without the young ones approval, it may have destroyed the already fragile trust between them. At least he could help the child as best he could and take him to safety

Slowly so as not to alarm Harry, Estel stood and stepped quickly back to Roheryn, from the saddle of which he withdrew a satchel, containing his limited medical supplies. Estel neared the elfling once more, bending down before him. The man met the child's eyes, silently reassuring him in an attempt to hold that fragile trust as he drew the child's leg from where he had drawn it in. Still the child was silent once more, though he allowed Estel to manoeuvre his leg into a more accessible position.

Ducking his head, Estel began to tend to the wound. Pouring a small amount of a Ranger's cleanser, made from a mixture of crushed Athelas root and water, on the wound to prevent infection. Even Elves were not immune to serious illness and contamination from wounds, and their elflings were indeed at risk from infection. During their developing years young elves were even more perceptible to illness than human children and became infected easily, thus developing a better ability to fight disease as an adult. Estel tried to ignore the child stiffening in pain as the medicine stung the open wound, before gently binding the wound in light bandage wrapping. Looking up he saw the child release a gust of breath. He gave an encouraging smile at the young elfling, who returned the smile tentatively. Hope surged through Estel as he examined the rest of the child's wounds gently – there was hope indeed.

**A/N - OMG, I was looking over this chapter and I cannot believe it. Plus, it's finally out. I know I'm not updating like I used to, but we've been putting more work in then what went into the old chapters. You can probably tell that though, it's _way_ long. Well, I say we, my Beta MM probably put in way more than I did. All I really did was put it all together and produce the originals. Thanks to my Beta.**

**I would also like to put the disclaimer around here now, because I _always _forget. So just in case. This is going to be the disclaimer, just because I don't have the money to be sued. I do not own any rights to Lord of the Rings, nor any other contents used by Tolkien in his novels. The same goes for Harry Potter, the rights and all the characters are the property of their genius creator, J..**

**You can probz tell I'm a little high right now can't you, I bought a mega-super-uber-awesome bottle of coke (as I'm now calling it) and my sister and I were walking back from the shops. Being the idiots we are, we decided to roll the bottle down the hill. Well you can guess it didn't work out so well. There were six holes in the bottle and I've had to drink 2 litres of coke in he last half hour. Plus the mass sugar/caffeine intake from earlier when my cousins were here. Anyways...happy happy happy. **

**You know what makes me even more happy though...reviews, please give me your thoughts, I would like to know what you think about the whole thing. Plus, reviews are like super-double-chocolate-chip cookies on the internet. **

**I have moved this story _again_ for what I hope is for the last time, in a desperate bid to get it to show up on the search feature, which for some reason it doesn't seem to want to do. To those who reviewed thank-you, though I, being the idiot that I am (again) seem to have deleted the records that I kept telling myself not to delete (jeez I'm useless). **

**To the person who labelled themselves 'not another Harry Potter/Lord of the rings crossover', it clearly states that it is a crossover, and an elfling fic in the summery. If you do not want to read this sort of material, then why are you here. There are plenty of other fics out there that should fit your tastes, so there really was no point coming in to complain about the entire plot of the story...honestly, waste of your time, waste of my time, waste of the good-people-who-have-had-to-read-me-complaining-to-you's time. Seriously, get over it.**

**Right, now that's past...I know I've forgotten something. Oh well, it'll come back. I'm always doing that now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, come back soon, and remember to review. **

**Oh, and by the way, the polls about possible M-preg and Slash are still open. They currently stand as-**

**Slash - 221 votes**

** Legolas - 111**

** Glorfindel - 85**

** Elladan and Elrohir - 82**

** Haldir - 56**

** Aragorn/Estel - 36**

** Elladan (on own) - 7**

** Elrohir (on own) - 5**

** Other - 3**

**I've had several suggestions regarding the other category. One being the suggestion of Rumil and/or Orophin. This actually quite intrigued me, and I am considering it. It would bring a bit of originality to an otherwise rather clique story. **

**I also have requests for an elleth. I only really know Arwen and Galadriel. Both are out of the question for obvious reasons (like their boyfriends/husbands). Therefore the only way I can see this happening is with an OC. Of course, I'm not very good about creating OC's, I have a couple, but their all rather 2D. So if you want an OC elleth, send me an OC and I'll consider using her. **

**I think that's about it. **

**Remember to press that little button at the bottom of the page. **


	3. Travelling

Harry stirred to the rocking movement of the horse below him. It had been three days since he had landed into the forest, and the deep gash on his leg was slowly healing under Estel's careful ministrations. That was not to say that the wound was well, it was clear that Harry would be burdened with the laceration for some time yet.

Estel, Harry had decided, was an odd man. The larger male _seemed_ to be a warrior. The weaponry and even the way he moved clearly showed that. Yet he had never failed to show the same tender care, or speak in soft comforting tones, when it came to Harry. He often behaved in a way that often reminded Harry of Molly Weasley. That was not to say that Harry doubted Estel's fierceness. He was sure that Estel could be perfectly terrifying when the need arose. Even Mrs Weasley, Harry recalled, had had a ferocious side, and it had shown in her behaviour during the Final Battle. Harry felt sorrow well up inside him again at the thought. She had been like a mother to him, and she had died in that battle.

Shaking himself, Harry drew himself from his depressing thoughts. His sudden movement seemed to finally alert Estel to his waking, and the man reacted by tightening his hold slightly on the boy sat in front of him. Estel's placid voice reached Harry's ears,

"Merry morning _tithen pen_", the man chuckled, "or rather, afternoon."

The first day and a half after meeting Estel had been rather awkward. Estel had been talking to Harry in a language that, while elegant, Harry could not understand. Harry should have alerted Estel of what language he _did_ speak, he knew that. The only this was that Harry hadn't been able to bring himself to trust the giant of a man that had found him in the middle of the forest. He knew that it was ridiculous, logically, the man had to be trustworthy. Estel had, after all, found Harry, defenceless, alone in the middle of the forest. He could have easily left Harry, or quickly done away with the boy if he saw the need. Instead Estel had helped Harry, tended his wounds and taken him in, all the while behaving in a manner that was nothing if not kind.

Even now though, with his mind telling him that Estel _had _to be trustworthy, Harry couldn't help but worry. It wasn't often, but Harry would sometimes catch Estel casting sidelong glances his way, a contemplative look on his face. Each time Estel would quickly look elsewhere, but Harry could not help but feel subconscious. Was it his ears? Harry knew that it was childish, but he had noticed Estel's ears were different to his own. They were like Harry's had been before….this had happened. Was it his ears then? Was he so different, was he weird here as well. Harry had had enough attention for a lifetime already, what with being the boy-who-lived, and then the chosen one. He didn't think he could stand it if he was so different in this new world as well.

Estel had somehow managed to work around the language barrier, despite Harry's….less than enthusiastic responses, and had eventually managed to find a common language. The man had seem rather surprised that Harry spoke English, almost as surprised as Harry was that Estel, who otherwise spoke in such eloquent tongues, spoke the language.

Harry had noticed though, that the language at least had differences. The way Estel phrased his sentences seem slightly awkward to Harry, though Estel seemed to have not problem with it, and there were several words that Estel had used that seemed far too much like old English for Harry to easily catch on. That was not to say that there had been much practise on Harry's part. Despite the fact that the language barrier no longer existed, and all that Estel coaxed Harry into conversations, Harry remained shy as ever.

He felt like a child sometimes, maybe that was because he was, in a way, a child again. It was odd. Harry also found himself surprised at how much care Estel seemed to put into caring about Harry. Harry didn't particularly like being a burden, and he had told the man that the night before, but Estel only seemed concerned about _Harry_. As he said, Estel was an odd man.

Estel had told Harry that they were going to Imaldris, where Harry would be cared for. At Harry's confusion, Estel had explained that Imaldris was also known as Rivendell, and when Harry failed to comprehend that, Estel had become even more concerned. That conversation had been followed by gently probing questions about Harry's life before Estel had found him. Estel had several times approached Harry and questioned him on how Harry had got into the forest. None of his questions ever came to any success.

Harry somehow couldn't help but be nervous about this '_Imaldris_'. He was just getting used to Estel, and there would certainly be people in Imaldris. Would they stare too? Would it be like the wizarding world again? Where he had either been loved or abhored at any given time? Or would he blend into background, like he had in the Dursleys?

Neither options sounded particularly appealing, he wanted to be noticed sometimes, but he didn't want to stand out allot. He suposed the he would sooner be ignored than be the centre of attention like he had been in the wizarding world.

Harry's main qualm however, was that he would not be wanted at all in Imaldris. He didn't want to go back to life with the Dursley's, or anything that was alike to it. While the Dursley's never actually hurt him, and they were rarely outright cruel to him, they had still managed to make their hatred of him known. Mostly through snide comments, or the fact that they never showed him any love. Or prehaps it was the differences in the way they treated him and Dudley. Harry wasn't quite sure when he had relised that he wasn't accepted in the Dursley household, but he knew that he would not like it to happen again. Especially in his current fragile form.

Estel didn't speak for a while after first greeting Harry. Instead he decided to give the child his own time to think for a while. He needed to get it while he could. Estel was doubtless that when they arrived at Imaldris, Harry would scarcely be left alone, especially after the elves found out what state Estel had found the child in. It wouldn't be long either, it they continued at the pace they currently carried, they could reach Imaldris by the eve of the morrow.

Estel thoughts darkened as he thought of those wounds that the child's body was covered with. Many of which were still there. While Harry's leg was healing nicely, and many of his cuts have began to scab over, the bruises refused to budge, and many of the cuts were forming scars that would probably stay with the boy for the rest of his life. The wounds, Estel had also noticed, were arranged in such a way, and of the type, that it was impossible for them to have been sustained through any type of accident, as Harry had once claimed upon questioning. Many had clearly been inflicted upon the boy, with the intent to harm.

Estel had to calm himself as these thoughts began to whirl about his head. He had to remind himself of the small body pressed against his. Harry was safe now, and it was severely unlikely that he would come to any more harm. Thinking of the small possibility that the child _could_ be harmed, Estel quickly cast a glance about him. If the were ambushed… Well, Estel wasn't sure that he could fight too many of them off while protected his little charge. With the Valar's graces, they would make it to Imaldris without an attack. It was only a days ride if they continued with the pace with which they currently moved.

Harry allowed himself to be lifted from the back of the horse by an irritated Estel. They were stopping again for the night, and for some reason, this time of day always seemed to put Estel in a rather subdued moods. Not that Estel ever mentioned anything, Harry doubted he would have noticed it had he not been so very aware of his surroundings, it was just that Estel always seemed to be on edge when they stopped. Maybe this world wasn't as safe as Estel had insisted when the language barrier had first been overcome.

Estel set Harry down a short way away from where they had dismounted the horse. While Harry's leg may have been healing fine at the moment, it was nowhere near healed enough for Harry to walk on it comfortably. Besides, Estel had repeatedly insisted that Harry not walk on it so as not to disturb the healing process. Harry had never wanted to be babied, even in this form he was uncomfortable with it, but eventually, after much stubbornness on both parts, Estel had pointed out that the less Harry used his leg, the faster it would heal. Harry could not disagree with this logic, he wanted his leg to heal as much as Estel did, so that he would be even a little less helpless than he was now. Harry had been forced to grudgingly agree with Estel.

Harry watched as the larger man began to pull cloth from the pack tied to the horses saddle, there were not allot of blankets, only one really, that Estel had insisted that Harry use while Estel used his cloak. The cloak was thick, but Harry knew that he shouldn't be taking Estel's blanket from him. Harry however, found himself unwilling to give up the warmth that the blanket gave him. As he thought of it, his lip began to tremble. Was he being selfish?

Harry didn't know why he felt the need to cry so much needed. Even as a child growing up with the Dursley's, Harry had not found it necessary to cry often. He had soon realised that it garnered him no attention, like it did for Dudley, and had stopped doing it. Now however, Harry constantly felt the need to cry welling up inside him. Perhaps, Harry thought, it had something to do with his small form, he seemed to be a child again, and that seemed to have caused him to revert to a more childish state of mind at time…or emotions at least.

Despite this though, Harry had managed to suppress the tears after the first time. Estel had fussed terribly over what had Harry so upset, reminding Harry even more of Mrs Weasley, which had bought up more memories and had set the boy off crying even harder. After that awkward event, Harry had focused on suppressing his tears, which worked for the most part. The second night, Harry had also had a little cry, though he had been certain that Estel was resting by that point, and had not noticed.

It wasn't long before Estel finished withdrawing the blankets and medicine that he had been using every night on Harry's wounds - Harry knew the man had some sort of training in basic first aid by the confidence Estel displayed when using the herbs and salves. Estel seemed to notice Harry's gaze on him and looked up, smiling at the child before him. Harry replied by giving a shy smile in return. Estel was nice, odd, but nice.

**Hi, sorry about the late update. I've just gone into Year Ten, and there springing exams on us left and right. Apparently, we're the first ear to try the new system where all classwork has to be done as Controlled Assessments, (in the classroom under exam conditions), and there staggering GCSE exams throughout the two years rather then doing them at the end of year eleven. Already I've done Two Science GCSE's and an English Controlled Assessment, if anybodies interested, I got two B's on the Science (Physics and Biology), and an A* in English. I've also got a Chemistry exam and another Physics Exam on Thursday which I really should be revising for...oh well. My mum (yes, my mum) has created a new rule though, so as soon as Thursday has passed, I should be able to write more regularly, I can't give an exact date. But it should be at least one a month, if not more. **

**Another thing is the loss of my Beta. Due to unfortunate circumstances, my Beta has been unable to type, and so this chapter will have spelling mistakes and less description. That is because it is completely my own work and nobody has looked over it. **

**So, that's it with my excuses. So, I don't really know what to write here.**

**Thank-you to all my reviewers, especially _AnimeIceFox_ who was my first reviewer for this fic, and who I know has stuck with me from the first copy, despite me being a total prat about updates and locating the story. **

**I think that I've chosen the pairing. I would like to thank the 263 people that answered my poll (yes, I am showing off). According to the poll, it should be Legolas by all rights, as he won with 28% - that's 129 votes. Glorfindel came at a close second, and the full results are at the bottom of the page. However, I would like to thank _dead feather_, who has made a very good point that it would be more interesting if I chose myself. This is why, while I took the poll into account, I have chosen myself. Now, I'm not saying that Legolas and Glorfindel are not out of the running, just that the poll hasn't decided. Now after all that, I'm going to disappoint you by saying that I'm not going to reveal who Harry will be paired with. You'll just have to hang on and find out.**

**Poll results**

**Legolas 129 28%**

**Glorfindel 101 22%**

**Elladan and Elrohir 94 20%**

**Haldir 69 15%**

**Estel/Aragorn 40 8%**

**Elladan 11 2% **

**Elrohir 9 1%**

**Other 5 1%**


	4. Are we there yet?

Harry was woken early the next morn by an edgy Estel. Despite the mans worried appearance, Harry was not worried. Harry had been with Estel for four sunsets now, and had long gotten used to Estel's jumpy behaviour. It was just how Estel was in the mornings…and in the evenings. The only time the man seemed at ease was when they were travelling, and even then, Harry occasionally noticed the man cast a wary look around.

Harry clambered gingerly out of the blanket he had been wrapped in, drawing his arms in at the sudden coldness. It was still early, and the sun had yet to warm the earth. Estel bundled up the blanket, and attacked it to the otherwise packed horse. The man next turned and picked up Harry himself, swinging him up onto the horses back. Harry gasped at the sudden movement, before settling as Estel climbed up behind him.

Harry remained tense as the mans arms encircled him, he could not help it really, he just found it difficult to relax. Estel was, after all, for all his attempts at familiarity, a stranger, and especially after the Battle, well, Harry wasn't all that comfortable around others. Harry breathed slowly as the horse began to move. It really was a large beast, even as a teenager Harry was unsure if he would be tall enough to even near the horses height. Now though, the horse seemed almost monstrous, and the ground seemed too far away for Harry's liking.

After a while, Estel tried to begin a sort of conversation with Harry. Harry however, wasn't exactly making it any easier. He was trying to get on with Estel. Merlin knew that the man had to have the patience of a Saint for all the effort and time he had put into attempting to get Harry to open up to him. Harry just found that he couldn't.

He didn't know what he could say that wouldn't give away how much he really didn't know about the land they were in. He had made enough mistakes already, he didn't want to know what people's reactions would be if he told the truth. He would probably be shipped off to an asylum before he could say Quiditch. Were there asylums here?

Oh well, Harry shook away the thoughts, he didn't want anything to slip. He was most definitely _not_ shy, he was sixteen for crying out loud, almost seventeen. He had faced more horrors than most adults. There was absolutely no way he could be _shy._

Either way, Harry returned Estel's queries and comments with nervous silences, and short mumbled answers. He evaded several prying questions the man subtly posed, he was almost grateful now for Mad-eyes paranoia. The man had help Harry a captive in his own home, and made the boy practice until he could answer questions under verutuserem.

The man had been worried about Harry falling into enemy hands and giving away Order information. Harry had thought it a completely inane thing to do, after all, if the Death Eaters and Voldemort captured him, Harry was sure they would not keep him alive long enough to question him. What was more, Harry wasn't even in the Order, so what information would he have for the Death Eaters to obtain.

Even more ridiculous was the fact that Voldemort would never have had to go to such lengths to get information from Harry. Harry was never good at Oclumency, and was sure that had Voldemort been desperate enough to have Harry kidnapped and _questioned_, he would have just saved himself allot of trouble and broken into Harry's mind across the link.

Harry pulled himself from his thoughts to hear one more question from Estel.

"So _tithen pen_." Estel began, "Do you know where your parents are?" 

The questions were raised in a gentle tone of voice, Estel meant no offence, but Harry could not help the irritated sigh that threatened to escape him. This was getting rather repetative.

Estel sighed softly to himself. It was infuriating how the little one seemed so reluctant to tell Estel anything. It was painfully obvious the child had had little affection bestowed upon him in his short life, and Estel knew that Harry mightn't be completely comfortable around him. They had only known each other for four days by the Valar, and had only been able to communicate for three.

However Estel also knew that if Harry refused help, and refused to talk about it, it would only hurt the elfling further down the road. Hoarding his hurts and fears would only bring more harm to the fragile child. Estel wanted to get Harry to open up before they reached Imladris. He knew that if Harry was uncomfortable around him, he would be even more overwhelmed when they reached Imladris.

Estel sighed. Bringing Harry to Imladris was for the best, Estel could not have even considered overwise. The boy could heal in Imladris, he would be loved. The only problem Estel could see was the boys rather anti-social demeanour. Harry was the first elfling for centuries, no doubt every elf would want to know him, and Estel didn't know how the boy would deal with it. 

They should arrive at Imladris by nightfall.

It was past noon when Estel finally slowed. He slipped off the horse, bringing Harry's limp form with him. The youth had fallen asleep almost an hour before, Estel had not been surprised. There was not much for Harry to do when riding. He did not have to concentrate on controlling the horse, and green blurs did get tiring to look at eventually.

Estel gently roused the boy. Harry needed rest, but he also needed to eat. Setting the boy down, Estel watched as Harry groggily rubbed sleep out of his eyes, his tiny mouth opening to make an adorable little 'O' shape. Estel smiled as he drew a small slab of Lembas bread from one of his numerous pockets. He knelt besides the small figure before him. Snapping a bit of the bread off, he passed it to Harry, before taking some for himself, rewrapping the bread and replacing it in his breast pocket.

Estel watched Harry as the boy looked sleepily up at him, before nibbling on the edge of the piece of Lembas bread. Estel doubted the boy knew just how cute he really was, even Estel could see plainly how the child shown even among elves. The older man could not keep the smile from growing upon his face.

Harry once more stirred to the movements of the horse bellow him. Estel was shaking him gently, while keeping a firm grip on Harry to keep him from toppling from the horse. 

"_Tithen pen_," Estel urged, "Harry."

It was the first time Harry had heard him name spoken in nearly five whole days. His eyes snapped open and he sat up a little, glancing at Estel to see the man smiling down at him.

"Watch _tithen pen_," Estel spoke again. "Imladris is just beyond this hilltop. You will be able to see it soon.

Harry could not seem to stem the feeling of excitment that filled him. He did not know why he anticipated their arrival at the place, Imladris, so much. He surposed it was Estel's stories of the place. Estel had often told Harry stories of Imladris, and about Estel's childhood there. Harry surposed Estel had told them to him to calm him. They had worked Harry surposed, he had always seemed to relax when Estel was telling his such stories.

Harry watched as the horse seemed to glide along the grassy land. As the three of them - Harry, Estel and the horse - passed over the top of the hill, Harry could not help as a gasp was torn from his throat. The sight of the city in the eve was magnificent. Harry was strongly reminded of the first time he saw Hogwarts across the lake, and yet, this was different. While Hogwarts was magnificent in a way that was imposing and proud, Imladris seemed elegant and peaceful, yet no less proud.

For the first time in a while, Harry didn't smile, he beamed.

**Woah, got that one done in like, one sitting. I told you I'd have an update up soon. So, I didn't get to write for like a week after I updated last, or maybe it's been a bit longer, Oh well, roughly a week. Again, There was no Beta this time, so it might be a bit rough around the edges. **

**I've again been busy, I took the two science exams that I mentioned last time. Not going to say anything in case fate desided to screw with my results because of it. I'm also in the middle of my controlled assessment for History at the moment so wish me luck. We're doing Nazi Germany and the Weimar govenment. **_**Fun**_**. Plus I've been chosen to be on the senior team in a national public speaking competition in my school. That's on Tuesday, so again, please wish me luck. **

**Thanks to all my reviewers, **

_**Undead Artist **_**-**__**I get what you mean about the hair. I think it's just an elf thing. You know long hair. I don't think I've seen an elf with short hair. Plus, I surpose hair isn't a directly manipulative-able part of the body, it's kinda like finger nails. So I guess when Harry shrunk, his hair just stayed the same. (In my story, it was reasonably long to begin with.) Does that make sense? No, I didn't think so either, oh well. **

_**EmeraldGreyClouds -**_** Ahh, thank-you. I don't think I'll be abandoning this story any time soon...ok, thats what they all say, but I really won't. I am determined to finish this story even if I have a complete beakdown. **

_**dead feather **_**- I know right. REVIEW PEOPLE. I'LL GIVE YOU COOKIES...AND PLUSHY CHIBI-HARRY'S**

_**Blue Skyes101 **_**- I didn't **_**say**_** that it was Legolas did I? ;) You'll just have to keep reading and find out. **

_**kura-wolfgoddess **_**- I know what you mean, it's always important to find the balence isn't it. **

_**Goldenfightergirl **_**- They **_**are**_**, how did I miss that. Gandalf must have changed them**


	5. Arriving and elves

Harry gaze around in awe as the pair rode towards the magnificent city that Estel had so often told him about. Even Estel's tales of the place could not have prepared Harry for the stunning sight that met his eyes now. Trees and Grass stretched out before him, the same shade stunning emerald that had resided in the eyes of Lily Potter. The green that resided in Harry's own eyes. A thin river wound around, and through the area, splitting so that one part flowed around the area, and the other through the fields, before both joined together again at the base of one of the great mountains that towered over the city.

Beyond the fields and the trees, lay a town. Except it could not be called a town - it was nothing like Hogwarts. The city was made up from a collection of modest, elegant buildings, separated by smooth stone roads. There were a few, larger, more conspicuous buildings dotted around, this, Harry supposed, was where the people is charge lived. The entire city seemed to almost glow in the pale moonlight, seeming almost like a haven nestled at the base of the colossal mountains that surrounded it. Harry couldn't help but smile. The city simply seemed to calm him in a way that he had not experienced in months.

Behind Harry, Estel chuckled, clearly amused at the boys reaction. Harry couldn't be irritated with Estel though, and chose to simply not react. Harry couldn't take his eyes off of the approaching city as they neared the outskirts.

Suddenly, Harry could feel a horrible feeling of dread welling up inside him. Estel was taking him here for a reason. Was he going to leave him there? Would Harry be abandoned all over again? What if the people who lived here, the elves, didn't like him? Would they be cruel? Would they refuse to take him? What if he was forced to leave?

Harry felt Estel's arms tighten around him, and relised that he had been shaken. Looking up into concerned brown eyes, Harry relised that his trembling had caused Estel to worry. For some reason, Harry could not help but feel saddened that he had made Estel worry.

"Tithen pen," Estel's voice was soft as he spoke soothingly to the little elfling, "what ails you?"

Harry just shook his head in the negative. He was just being stupid. Estel said that everything would be fine. Harry didn't know where this sudden rush of trust for the older man had come from, but Harry couldn't help but feel safe with Estel. Harry turned forwards again, yet could feel Estel's eyes on him for a couple of minuites more before the man again returned to concentrating on riding. It would not be long until they arrived.

The city was even grander close up, Harry observed as the two of them entered the outskirts of the place. There was no visible marker to indicate where the city began and ended, yet Harry found that he just _knew_ when he had entered the area. It was as if a cool, clean air had rushed over with him, cleansing him. The feeling was simply saturated with powerful magic, yet the magic was different to what he was used to. Not the magic of wizards for certain.

It was dark as Estel manoeuvred the horse so that it neared one of the larger, grander buildings. Not many people were about, but some of those that were watched as the pair moved through the city, their keen eyes picking out both the rugged features of Estel, and the slim frame of Harry perched before him on the horse.

It was not long before the two came to stop in a sort of courtyard. Harry felt Estel swiftly dismount and it was not long before Harry was lifted from the horses back. Harry waited for Estel to set him down, his leg had still not healed, but it wasn't bleeding now, and the herbs that Estel had mixed in with his tea had number the pain so that it no longer ached when pressure was applied to it.

He did not expect to be swept up into the older mans arms where he was perched on Estel's hip. Harry frowned for a moment, but burrowed his head into Estel's shoulder when a new person approached. Harry heard the male question Estel in that language that Estel knew - Sindarin, he thought it was called. Estel murmered something back to the man and there was a slight rustle of movement. Harry chanced to peak out from his hiding place to see the man walking away, leading the horse to where a stable must be.

Harry heard Estel give a slight sigh, and looked at the man. Estel looked tired.

"_Tithen pen, why do you worry. Morcien (1) only wished to retrieve my horse. He would have never harmed you, and you have no reason to fear any in this house._" Estel tone was reassuring, and Harry found himself relaxing.

It was short lived however, as another man strode up to them. Harry once again taking refuge in the crook of Estel's neck. Harry could once again here the two conversing quietly in Sindarin. The voice hinted of power and danger, yet smooth as silk, and safe at the same time. It was an odd thing. The mans tone was welcoming, joyful, as if greeting an old friend that had recently returned from a long journey. Estel returned the words likewise. It was then that the mans tone turned curious, he had noticed Harry then. Estel seemed to try to explain, but Harry could almost sense that the powerful being did not know whether to believe him.

Harry could feel Estel's hand rubbing his back comfortingly, as he tried to coax Harry from his refuge. Grudgingly, Harry slowly turned to look at the stranger.

The elf, for that was what he was, was tall. Taller even than Estel, with long blonde hair and stormy grey eyes that seemed to have witnessed an eternity. The elf did indeed seem to have an important aura about him, despite the look of awe that was apparent on his face.

"_Un edhel hin…" _the blonde breathed.

His hand came out as if to touch Harry, his eyes wide, yet he seemed to think better of it when Harry flinched away from the touch, quickly withdrawing his hand. Recovering his decorum, he turned back to Estel and quickly questioned him. Estel replied in rapid Sindarin, and the blonde once more turned his penetrating gaze to Harry.

Seeing the wary look on Harry's face as the boy clung to Estel tightly, the elf smiled at Harry reassuringly.

"Evening little one, I am Lord Glorfindel of the House of the Golden flower. May I ask your name little one?"

Harry shrunk back into Estel a bit more. A Lord, that did sound terribly important. Why was a Lord so interested in him anyway. Not wanted to be rude, Harry held the Lord gaze, albeit a bit shakily.

"Harry." His answer was short and quick.

"Well then Harry," Glorfindel offered another comforting smile, "shall we step indoors then, out of the cold?"

Glorfindel waited for Harry to nod shyly, before leading the way back up to the grand house from which he had come originally.

**Mostly filler there, but I managed to introduce Glorfindel, which is great, and their finally there, which means that there is so much more I can do in the next chapter. Finally, the plot can start moving. **

**I really am pushing my deadline with this. It's 11:23 on the 17.12.10. and I promised to have it up my tomorrow at the latest. I must appologise for not having it up sooner. I got distracted. IT'S CHRISTMAS. **

**Anyway, thanks to everyone that reviews, Plushie Chibi-Harry's for everyone. I'm sorry, but I ate all the cookies. **

**Blue Skyes101**** - Yes, it's true, it's all part of my evil plan, mwahahaha**

**Goldenfightergirl**** - Yes, Harry will still have magic, though he doens't have wand now so it will be rather randum and spontanious. As for stopping where I did, it was because I was lazy and wanted a cliffie. Evil me. Well, there was some elf interaction there for you, and there will be allot more in future chapters. **

**DW**** - I know right, I plan on giving Harry the childhood he should have had the first time round, though he may not like it at first. Don't worry though, I have no plans on skipping Harry's childhood, I said that Harry was getting a childhood and I will proove it. He's going to grow up, become an awquard teenager, have a crush or two, become an adult, etc. Excuse my ramblings, I'm doped up on so much sugar that it's not even funny. **

**Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone in case I don't get another chance before it comes. **


	6. Lords and elves

Harry peered around from his perch on Estel's hip. Despite his nervousness, the boy couldn't help but be fascinated by the…house? The very extravagant house they were in. Glorfindel had led the two of them up into the stone building, and the three of them were quickly moving through the hallways. Harry was, for once, glad that he was being carried. He knew that his little legs would never be able to keep up with the two taller males.

Even from behind, Harry couldn't help but notice the aura of power that Lord Glorfindel gave off. It was like waves, intoxicating and enchanting. For a moment Harry was reminded of Dumbledore, but this was different. Dumbledore had a wise sort of power about him - magical and alluring, true - but nothing like this ancient and natural power that seemed to pour off of the older elf. Harry wondered for a moment, were all elves like this? Or was Glorfindel just different?

Shaking his head slightly, Harry pulled his gaze from the blonde and continued to earnestly drink in his surroundings. Harry heard Estel chuckle almost silently at him, and glanced up to the see the mans grin. Despite Estel obviously was laughing at him, Harry didn't blush. He just went back to staring about in wonder. Obviously hearing Estel's amusement (how good was his hearing!) Glorfindel glanced over his shoulder at the two.

He had been doing that allot in the short time Harry had known him. The older elf continued to stare at Harry as if he couldn't believe Harry was there, or that he was worried Harry would simply disappear. Harry didn't understand it. He had never met Glorfindel before, why would the man worry about Harry? Harry was…just Harry.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Glorfindel couldn't help but look back at the small boy that rested in Estel's arms. It was impossible, there had not been an Elfling born in centuries. How was it possible that this boy had been birthed, and never been known by the elven population. It was astounding. Even more so was the way that the child, Harry, had behaved when they had been introduced, almost as if he were afraid that Glorfindel would lash out at him.

Surely the boy would know that no elf would ever be able to bring themselves to hurt him. Even if he had not been born and raised in an elven settlement - which he should have been in Glorfindel's opinion, it was much safer - his parents would have surly taught Harry that he could trust his own kind. A frown marred the strong features of Glorfindel's face as he contemplated the thought the child's parents were dead. Certainly his parents were dead now, for why else would the boy have been bought here alone with Estel? But if the had not been there earlier in his childhood as well…that would explain why the boy was so nervous around him, and why he had never been bought to Imladris or Lothlorien, or even Mirkwood. Of course that brought up the question, if the child had lacked parents, where had he lived before, and how had he survived?

What was most worrying was the childs injuries. Scars decorated the boys frail arms, and the way he held his leg - with it clutched close to him - indicated that the boy was wounded there. The child also had an almost starved look about him. As if he had not eaten well for a long while. His cheeks were slightly sunken and waxy, his startling emerald eyes seemingly too large where they were set in his pale face. The child was certainly not in good shape. Even now, the boy seemed half dead with weariness. Almost falling asleep in Estel's arms. However Harry had lived before, Glorfindel could tell that it was not the loving home that the child should have had.

He would need to discuss this with Lord Elrond.

xoxoxoxox

The trio soon discovered Lord Elrond in the library, concluding his evenings activities by the looks of things. Lord Elrond appeared both surprised and pleased with his sons arrival in Imladris - not that Glorfindel was surprised, though Estel was not Elrond's son by blood, the two were as if Elrond had sired Estel himself. Glorfindel knew that Elrond was constantly worrying about his children when they left the boundaries of Imladris - even though they were far from children now. The man was clearly relieved by his sons swift return.

It was a moment before Lord Elrond noticed the small child, who had once more taken refuge, burying his head in Estel's shoulder. Curiosity flashed through his eyes as he spoke quietly to Estel. He was clearly as curious about the child as Glorfindel was. Estel spoke quickly, explaining in little detail that the boy was an elfling, a child of about twenty-five, prehaps thirty summers, whose name was, apparently, Harry - an odd name as Glorfindel had ever heard.

Estel's small speech was short and held little detail, though he promised to explain all he knew as soon as he was able to set the boy - Harry - down. It was clear to the three men that the dark haired Harry was tired out.

Lord Elrond overcame his shock rather swiftly, and organised a room for Estel to set down Harry - who now appeared to be lightly dozing in Estel's arms - in.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Once Harry had been settled in what were, for the moment, to be his rooms. The three of them converged, along with the Chief advisor Erestor, inside Lord Elrond's study. Estel explained to us in more detail how he had discovered the young elf in the middle of the wilderness, far from any civilisation. This raised many questions as to how Harry could have possible gotten out there on his own. With the orks and the uruk-hai still at large, it would have been nearly impossible for one so young to have survived. Not that Glorfindel was complaining, far from it. It was have been nothing less than a tragedy for the entire Elvish community had the child perished before he had even been discovered. Clearly the child was blessed by the Valar.

Estel spoke of the child's injuries, how wary the boy had been when the two had first met, as if afraid of being struck. This roused a coursing fire in each of the men's heart. It was no exaggeration how protective the elven folk were of their young. Children were rare, a blessing, and so were treasure above all else. For a child to have been treated so cruelly was nothing less than sacrilege.

None-the-less, the child was here now, safe. Harry would be able to grow and be happy here. As he should have been his entire life.

Estel then spoke of how the child had behaved as they travelled, the was the child was reluctant to even accept the smallest form of help from Estel, indicated that Harry was used to looking after himself. He also told how the boy had questioned everything Estel had told him, seemingly not knowing at all about the elven cities, or that there were even others of his kind alive. The child had gazed around, Estel explained, with an air of one who had not seen the world properly before, or for a very long while. Unfortunately, despite Harry's apparent curiosity, he had supplied little information about himself, and had cleverly sidestepped all of Estel's subtle probes about his past. Harry truly was an enigma.

Then we came onto another, more pressing subject. What would happen with the child. For certain, the other Elven settlements would have to be informed of the boys birth, to see if his parents could be identified and located. Then a decision would have to be made about what would happen to Harry in the long term.

For now, however, Harry would stay.

A/N

Sorry about the late chapter. I've had like, seven exams in the past month. It's been crazy. Plus, I was kinda lazy. Sorry about that. See, even more elf interaction there.

In the next chapted I forsee Harry meeting Elrond, and prehaps the twin. Hell, I might bring Galadriel into it as well vaguely.

I was looking back at my last chapter and I saw the A/N then. You can clearly tell that I had been on a mass sugar rush.

Anyway, for this story, I've got a little diary thing going on on my profile. I don't know whether anybody has seen it. It just says how I'm doing with the chapter, whether there will be any bonus chapters or whether I'm going to be late. The whole shebang. So, if you want to have a look-sy, that would be great.

To all my reviewers, thank-you so much.

DW - Not a problem, yeah, I'm switching POV's with the elves sometimes, it's so fun to get inside their heads sometimes. Of course, most of the time I'll be showing things through Harry's perspective but at time like with this chapter, I'll have someone else tell the story.

TalaDentro - Thanks for pointing that out, I hadn't even noticed. I'm not very good at proof reading. I'll try, but I often miss things.

The Phan Ghost - Well I might have them meet Harry in the next chapter. I can't wait either.

Gladoo89 - Don't worry, I was never going to have Harry in a relationship when he was a child. He'd have to grow up a bit first. As for his lover knowing him as a child. Two thirds of the elves population wouldn't be in Rivendell. So they wouldn't know him very much as a child…..if it was a Rivendell elf, well, some elves it just works with I think.

Blue Skyes101 - Those are actually some really great ideas. I might have to steal some of them. I'll trade my plushy Glorfindel for them…


	7. A new place

Harry stirred. A small groan left his lips as he began to return to conciousness. The brunette let out a sigh as he stretched, followed by a sharp gasp when he irritated his wounded leg again. It took a moment for it all to come back to him. The battle, meeting Estel, Imladris. It all came rushing back to him with startling clarity.

Eyes shooting open, Harry pushed himself up, ignoring the shooting pain it caused in his leg and spine, and the dizziness he suffered as a result of moving so quickly. Harry whipped his head from side to side. Where was he?

Panic rose within Harry as he tried to recall how he had got here. Estel...he had arrived with Estel, and they had met the tall blonde man...elf. Glorfy... Glorfindel? It was something like that. And he was a Lord. Then...then they had gone in, and they had met another man...elf. That was a bit blurry. Harry got a shifting memory of dark hair and kind grey eyes. This was the elf that Estel was always talking about. That was Estel's father.

Harry couldn't remember anything after that. He assumed that he had fallen asleep. Had Estel put him here? Where was Estel? Harry knew it was childish, but, depite not having known Estel for very long, Harry couldn't help but long for Estel. Harry knew logically that Estel should be around here somewhere - unless he had left, no, Harry would no think like that - but he couldn't help but want him _here_.

He was being ridiculous he knew. He shouldn't be acting like this. Whatever he looked like, he was seventeen, not bloody five. He needed to act his age or he would never be taken seriously in this world.

Harry slid off the bed, or rather, he tried to. The bedding was so soft he seemed almost to sink into that mattress. Regardless, the boy managed to climb out of the bed without hurting his leg too much. Harry stopped by the bed, that really hurt. Part of Harry told him to stay where he was, he would just hurt himself further if he left, and he could get into trouble. Judging by the good conditions of the room, the people he was staying with didn't mean him harm. If they were going to hurt him, why would they let him stay in such a nice room. And why would they have cared for his injured leg.

He noticed now that that gauze on his leg had been changed, and the wrappings seemed to be tighter than before. More professional. The splint had been removed, Harry noticed with a sigh, he wouldn't find it easy to get around without it. Clearly whoever had changed his bandages didn't expect him to be moving around very much. Clearly they didn't know the slightest bit about him.

Pausing to gather his wits about him. Harry leant causually on his bad leg. Pain shot up his side. He had had worse though, and he would bare it. With that thought in mind. Harry began to walk towards the doorway, a slight limp in his step.

The first corridor Harry entered was empty, while the windows in his own room had been covered, he could now clearly see that the sky was a light pinky colour. Early morning then. It had been late when they arrived. Had he not slept much then. But he had been so tired. And now he felt much more awake. Harry decided not to think about it, it would only make his head hurt trying to understand the messed up logic.

Harry pattered quietly through the winding corridors without finding anyone. _Where _was Estel? He couldn't have already left could he? Harry felt an irrational feeling of betrayal well up inside him and could not help the tears which pricked his eyes. Where _was _he?

He shouldn't have left the room, he should have waited for Estel to come back for him. Harry turned to go back to his room. After passing through a few corridors, Harry relised that he really had no idea where he was goin. He was lost.

Harry tried his very best but could not help but let out a quiet sob. He was being stupid. He scolding himself for his childishness. He was not a baby. He had fought war, damn it. He had killed bloody dark lords. Who cared if he couldn't find Estel straight away, he wasn't a bloody child that needed to be constantly looked after. A tear sliped silently down his cheek. He had looked after himself since he was a child. He didn't need...want that to change now. He was _perfectly _happy being completly independant.

Then why did his chest ache so much at the thought of Estel abandoning him?

Just then, Harry heard a gasp behind him, whirling around, Harry looked up into the faces of two identical shocked faces. Harry observed them quickly, they were both tall, taller than Estel though not as tall as Glorfindel had been. Long dark hair, a couple of shades lighter than Harry's own framed their faces, and bright grey eyes shone from their faces. Like the few other elves Harry had met so far, they were both very pretty in a masculine sort of way.

The way they were looking at him unnerved Harry though. He _wasn't _a freak...so why were they staring at him?

This passed in only a few seconds, before the elf on the left hissed to the other,

"An _elfling_?"

The other seemed only to agree with him, sharing in his surprise.

"Are you alright, _tithen pen_?" The one on the right questioned Harry. Harry didn't move to answer. (tithen pen = little one)

"Where are your parents?", the other, - his brother? - asked.

He sighed. "My name is Elladan _tithen pen_," he grinned, "and this rather bland fellow besides me is my _darling _brother, Elrohir."

For some strage reason, Harry felt that he should feel very _very_ afraid.

Elrohir was shocked, he and his brother had been up early, preparing a new prank for Erestor when they had come across the most peculiar sight of a small dark haired ellon stood right in the middle of one of the many corridors that made up their home.

"An _elfling_", his brother hissed to him. Elrohir could only nod my agreement to his suprise. No elfling had roamed the halls of The Last Homily Home in many a century. He was sure that no elfing had been _born _in the last several centuries. So how was there this young ellon before him? It was inconcievable.

It took a moment for Elrohir to notice the tears streaming down the boys face. Concern welled up inside his for the young elfling.

"Are you alright,_ tithen pen_?"

Elladan, quickly relises what Elrohir had noticed, put forth his own question when the boy did not answer.

"Where are your parents?"

The boy was trembling, and seemed to be leaning rather heavily onto his left leg.

Elladan made a daring attempt to lighten the mood, 

"My name is Elladan tithen pen, and this rather bland fellow besides me is my _darling_ brother, Elrohir."

Elrohir went to smack his brother upside the head.

"Ignore this fool," he addressed the elfing, "he recently suffered a rather baffling head trauma while training. Though how he managed to injure _himself_ with the bow is something that escapes me." He too grinned at the child.

Elladan scowled besides him, though he could tell his brother was not truly riled. It was all good natured their bantering.

"What is your name then_ tithen pen_?" Elrohir pushed. He wanted to know who this child was. Prehaps it would trigger something. Maybe something had been said about a little ellon being born and he had merely forgotton about it. It was unlikely but possible.

An awquard silence settled over them while they waited for the boy to answer them. The seconds trickled by before,

"H...Harry", the boy, Harry choked out. It was a strange name Elrohir noticed, one for a strange child. The boys voice was soft and melodic, though shook with the fear that was present in his glistening emerald eyes. No elfling should look on an elf with fear like that. Surely the child knew that.

Suddenly, the boy gave out a sharp cry of pain and collapsed. Besides him, Elladan reacted quickly and caught the boy before he hit the floor. Lifting him into his arms, the two quickly hurried down towards the Halls of Healing, where their father would hopefully be by now.

Prehaps he knew something about the orrigin of this strange child elf that they had found.

**A/N**

**Gosh, more filler, things should kick off soon. I'm sorry about lateness again. I'm not going to go on about excuses or anything though, if you really want to here me pour my soul out, it's on the story diary thing on my profile - I updated it yesterday. I want to say, thanks to all my reviewers, and thanks to everyone who is still following this despite my terribly random updates. Sorry for any spelling mistakes, for some strange reason my grammer checker thing isn't working.**

**HeidiFox**** - Maybe, if this ends up in slash, then probably. I have a rather odd fetish for it at the moment...prehaps that was the wrong way to describe it. **

**Squigglytext**** - He will, he already is a bit actually. I plan to have him live out the childhood that he never got with the Dursleys. Of course, because he has already grown up once, he will be slightly more mature than other children, but, with time...**

**smitty1110 ****- Aww, thank-you. I'm sorry that they're so short. I know I need to start writing more and hopefully when the story really kicked off and it stop being these stupid little filler chapters I can really dig my teeth into it a write longer chapters. The thing is, it showed up as really long when I write it, and then I put it on fanfiction and it's like...damn**

**KK**** - Thanks for the opinion. It's good to get feedback so that I can get an idea of what to keep doing and what isn't such a good idea. Sorry about skimming over that bit. It was late and while I really wanted to get the chapter up and have it be a good chapter, my bed was screaming for me to climb in and sleep. I may go back and fix it sometime.**

**Liria Nai**** - You've clearly been thinking allot about the pairing, though I'm not sure Glorfindel would enjoy being called old, lol. I have given it some thought and have pretty much made up my mind. You'll have to wait to find out more though.**

**Now to stop this authors not getting to long. I'm going to shut up and post the damn thing.**


	8. Settling In

It reminded Harry of the Hospital wing, the room Harry was in. It was odd, the two rooms were so very different to each other, though at the same time Harry couldn't help but compare the two. For this was undoubtedly a hospital. He half expected Madame Pomfrey to come charging in, complaining about "dangerous activities" and how she didn't know how he would still be there if it wasn't for her always patching him up. They hadn't been close, but the Nurse was a good woman - if a little short tempered - and it ached to think that she would never again scold him for his foolishness.

The room Harry was in was airy and open. The ceiling was high and he could see the rafters, at the end of the room two huge oaken doors were open onto a balcony. Two other doors exited out of the room, a pair of heavy looking ones led to the corridor off of the wing and the second Harry was pretty sure led to a storeroom of some kind as that was where Lord Elrond - who had turned out to be a healer here - had retrieved all of his medical equipment. Beds lined the room, not too many, prehaps six on each side, all spread throughout the long room. They're were thin curtains that could be drawn around the top of the bed, a light colour that Harry couldn't decide whether they were blue or white. These curtains had been drawn back around his bed, allowing him to breath the fresh air of the mountainous region. Harry's bed was situated closed to the window, where he would be most comfortable and he had been told not to stray from it.

He had tried once already to leave the room, but had been caught not two corridors down by a woman-elf **(elleth)** who had seemed concerned and had brought him back to the halls. She had told him her name but he couldn't seem to remember it, Ithil-something or other **(1)**. After that he had been told strictly not to leave his bed and to tell someone imediatly if he needed anything and they would fetch it for him. His single other attempt to leave had been foiled before he had even left the ward, this time by Estel who had returned him to bed without saying anything. The man had simply given him a stern look and sat with him for the rest of the afternoon.

Harry, suitable cowed - like a child he ruefully admitted - refused to speak with the man who had prevented his escape. He really _did _hate hospitals after all, that hadn't changed. His resolve however, broke down quickly. He didn't know why but it was almost impossible to stay mad at Estel. Prehaps it was because it was Estel that had rescued him from the forest, or that the man reminded him of Sirius, protectively there, but still able to make Harry laugh when the time called for it. Estel quickly drew Harry into a conversation about Estel's own childhood, with the twins and a woman who Estel had called Arwen who was apparently staying with her grandmother in another Elven city.

Well, it was mostly Estel doing the talking, but Harry listened earnestly, eager to learn as much about this new place as possible. Despite his childish body, Harry still recognised that this could spell trouble if anyone found out about how he had come here, and he knew that if he were to bluff having been born and raised in this world then he would need a good back story, and as much imformation about the place as possible. He hadn't spoken much to the elves, no matter how much they, and Estel, tried to convince him too. Nor did he speak of his life before Estel had found him. He was afraid to let something slip, and yet at the same time, afraid of being abandoned. He didn't know why, logic told him that they had no reason to look after and heal him if they wished him harm of planned to abandon him. Still the fear remained. He didn't even know if this was all real, sometimes Harry half believed, half hoped that this wasn't real, and that he would wake up to find that the final battle hadn't happened yet, and nobody was dead. He kept hoping, but so far, he had had no luck.

Estel had obviously told someone about his last escape attempt as, from then on, he always seemed to have someone with him when he was awake. He had only been there four days and Harry was feeling smothered by all the attention and worry that was being poured onto him by those around him. He hadn't met very many elfs yet, and had only really spoken to Estel, the Twins, Lord Elrond and Lord Glorfindel, and another dark haired elf who had been introduced as Eroster. He was only alone at this moment as they still believed he was asleep.

Harry wasn't even sure why he was there, the last thing he remembered was meeting the twins, though from what he had been told he had passed out, invoking their worry, and had been carried off to the 'Halls of Healing' where he was currently staring blankly at the ceiling.

This was unbearable! He had been stuck in that room for _ages_. He wasn't that injured. His leg barely hurt anymore. He hadn't even been this restricted in the aftermath of the Triwizard Tournament, _or_ the Department of Mysteries. Harry pouted. It wasn't _fair_. He may look like a child, but he wasn't.

The door opened, and Harry's head shot up to watch as Estel entered the room. Harry shot a glare as the older man neared him, frustrated at his confinement. It didn't have the desired effect. In fact, it only seemed to amuse Estel. Harry's glower deeepened as the man chuckled.

Estel watched as the small boy looked up at him from the bed with an expression no doubt meant to be threatening. He laughed. He couldn't help it, the boy just looked so cute as he pouted up from the bed. It didn't help that the large frame of the bed dwarfed Harry in comparison. He was just so tiny.

Estel was once more hit with the thought that someone had hurt this child. How? He couldn't understand how someone could ever harm something so clearly innocent. Now that Harry was safely within Imladris, Estel would quite happily hunt down the cruel people who had dared to raise their hand against him, and he was unsurprised to find that this opinion was shared by not only Lord Glorfindel, but the twins as well. Of course, this idea was greatly injured by the fact that Harry had refused to tell them anything about his past or even how he had come to be in the glade he had been found in.

It was quite frustrating.

"Harry" Estel addressed the small elfling, who had now sunk into a rather sulky mood. He paused for a second, considering what he was about to say. News of the elfling had spread quickly, and the population of Imladris were all anxious to see for them selfs the long awaited boy. This anxiety was only mirrored by the shared hope for Harry's successful recovery.

When Harry had passed out, worry for the elflings well being seemed to escalate even more than before - were it possible. Elrohir and Elladan had hurried with the elfling the the halls of healing where Lord Elrond had hurriedly tended to the boy. There had been worries that Harry might survive whatever had happened to him afterall. And there had been talk that prehaps, despite his external wounds not being life threatening, the boy had been injured internally.

The boys collapse had caused much worry amongst the elven people, and his appearance had stirred quite an uproar. Children were treasured by the elven people, and for one to turn up out of nowhere, injured and unwilling to speak of his ordeal. It was unheard of. Luckily though, Estel noted, Harry _did _seem to be getting stronger than before. His skin had a glow about it that hadn't been present before.

Harry was clearly frustrated in the Halls of Healing. This at least, was something that Estel could relate with other elflings. He had been told that Elrohir and Elladan, and even Arwen had never been able to stay still for long periods of time when they were young. This at least, was something normal.

However, the boys health was still fragile, and given the shy nature Harry had displayed when meeting the elves, Estel was unsure of whether it was wise to take him out into Imladris in his fragile state. There was always the chance of Harry reacting badly to being crowded, and getting the child upset would not help Harry's recovery.

"Harry", Estel continued **(He started this sentence **_**ages **_**ago, I don't know if you remember)** "Would you like to go outside?" Not far, they would avoid the more crowded areas and Estel would keep an eye on the child the whole time.

The boy seemed to stare at Estel for a time, before nervously nodding his head. The angry elfling from before seemed to have receeded as Harry returned to the shy and quiet disposition he usually displayed.

Estel grinned as he scooped the boy into his arms, ignoring the sharp yelp his charge gave.

Harry stared up at Estel as the man offered to allow him to go outside. Was he being serious? Harry waited for the man to withdraw the offer, before nervously nodding his head when nothing happened.

Before Harry knew it, he had been scooped up into strong arms, a small yelp escaping his lips before he could stop it. Harry's cheeks flushed but Estel seemed to take no notice. Harry wiggled to be let down but Estel held firm.

"No, _tithen pen_, I will carry you."

Harry glared - he refused to call it a pout - at the man. But couldn't suppress the

shy grin that blossomed in respondance to the man's own.

Estel carried Harry through the halls of the Last Homily Home and out into the gardens. These gardens were mostly private, and Harry could get some fresh air without being crowded by well-meaning but over-bearing elves. Estel could remember being a child here as well, he thought he had had it bad, but it was nothing compared to the fussing the dark haired child was going to recieve when he was finally introduced to the rest of Imladris.

Estel thought back to his conversation with Lord Elrond and Lord Glorfindel on the first night of his return

*****FLASHBACK*****

_"Do you believe that he was taken by orcs?" Glorfindel posed the question that was doubtlessly on the edge of everyones minds, "to have come to such harm."_

_Estel had considered this, it was possible, orcs were cruel and vile creatures, it would not be too far fetched to believe that they would have harmed an innocent such as Harry. "Prehaps, but then, how would they have gotton ahold of him. What could have happened to leave him with them?" _

_"Prehaps the child's parent were killed by orcs, leaving the child alone with them." _

_This time is was Elrond who objected, "If he had been with his parents though, why would they have not brought him to live with others of his kinds. We are immortal, but by no means indestructable. Surely they must have relised that it would be foolish and dangerous to try to raise the child away from the safety of the elven settlements. No, I believe that the boy has not been with his birth parents since shortly after his birth, however he cannot have been with the orcs all this time. I do not think that they would keep him alive and well for so long a period. If this was done by orcs, then it was done recently."_

_"But that still leaves the question of where he has been for all these years" Estel found that they really didn't seem to be able to determine the childs past. _

_"Harry isn't an elvish name", Glorfindel put forth. "I do not believe it is a name his birth parents would have given him." _

_"No" Elrond agreed, "It is more of a man-ish name."_

_"So he could have been raised by man?"_

_"Prehaps."_

_The conversation soon turned to what would happen to Harry now that he was safe. The future, Lord Elrond said, was more important right now than the past. _

_It was decided that the child would be left in Imladris to heal, and prehaps even after that. Harry would need stability to recover - both physically and mentally - and moving him around too much would not allow that. Of course, there was the problem of the other elven settlements. When news of an orphaned elfling with no history reached the ears of the other settlements... there was no doubt that there would be much vying for Harry's attentions. _

_The night unearthed few answers, yet more questions. Leaving the trio more confused than ever regarding the dark haired mystery._

_*****END FLASHBACK*****_

Estel sat down on a stone bench in the garden, seating Harry in his lap. _He was so light_. Almost immediatly Harry began to wriggle in his hold. Chuckling, Estel held on to the boy for a few moments before the boy stilled and, pouted, glanced up at him.

Harry glanced up at Estel from where he was sat on the mans lap. He wanted to get down. The man however, held tight. Huffing, Harry opened his mouth to say something, however was interupted by the strangest sensation. A giggle - _he did not giggle _- burst from his lips.

_Estel was tickleing him!_

**AN - **

**This is sooooooo late. And I am so sorry for this. I just never got round to doing it. But luckily, I'm on holiday from school in a week so this problem shouldn't arise next time. It the next update doesn't come quickly **

**it's probably because I'm being lazy so feel free to PM me and kick me into writing.**

**If you've been haning on for an update despite my...ahem...lateness. Thank-you, and thanks to everyone that reviewed. Your what gives me the inspiration to keep writing.**

**WyrdSmith**** - Don't worry, I plan on finishing this story, I just have the amazing ability to procastinate royally.**

**RogueNya**** - Sorry about the confusion, when I wrote Uruk-hai, I meant orcs. This is probably around 2950. Aragorns an adult and Sauron is in mordor. But there is no fellowship yet, in fact, much of the fellowship has yet to be born...so...yeah.**

**LiveFreeDieWell**** - I don't actually know, that is a rather major plot hole. I should go back and patch that up really shouldn't I. Thank-you for pointing it out to me.**

**Curalium Lacrimo**** - I'm not sure if this will end up and m-preg yet. But don't worry, I'm not going to rush Harry's childhood or anything. He deserves to grow up himself. If there is m-preg, it will probably be a sequel.**


	9. Turns and Tumbles

Word spread quickly across Imladris. News of the elfling was on the tip of every elves tongue. The child had yet to be seen outside of Elrond's own home, yet that did not stop the servants from gossiping, and news of Harrys collapse had the city holding it's breath. It had been centuries since an elfling had been born, and now one turned up, seemingly out of nowhere, hurt and afraid. The circumstances of Harrys discovery were not widely known, but that did not stop the rumours from flying.

Of course, these rumours were soothed by knowledge that the youngster seemed to be opening up to Elrond's youngest son.

Estel looked out from his window, he had spent a long time on the road, and knew that he should again be departing. He was a ranger, and as such, he had a duty to fullfill. Yet he couldn't bring himself to leave Harry, this small elven child he had found alone in the woods. Harry had yet to open up to him, but he was even more distustfull of anyone else. The way he looked up at Estel, like he was just waiting to be cast aside, for Estel to turn around and leave. Estel knew that he should leave, and it wouldn't be for a terribly long time. A couple of months and he would be back.

So why did it feel so much like abandonment?

Why did his chest hurt at the thought of those green eyes blazing in betrayal as he knew they would should he leave?

He knew he should. He had a duty to the people of Arda. Yet he couldn't tear himself away from this helpless being that envoked such protectiveness from him.

He would stay for now, until Harry had a more stable footing, and someone else to open up to. He didn't know for how long he could aford to be away, what with the orcs mulitplying as they were, the forces of Sauron were becoming even stronger.

Estel pushed those thoughts away as he turned from the window. He would not think like that. Those thoughts were better left for discussion with his Ada, Lord Glorfindel and Erestor.

Estel turned to his washbasin, a silver jug had been filled with warm water and sat besides his cloth. Pouring the water into the basin, Estel began to wash himself. When he was done, Estel returned to his bedchambers where fresh clothed had been lay out from him.

Once Estel was dressed in a silken rich blue tunic and dark leggings, he pushed himself from his seated position on his bed and left the room in search of Lord Elrond.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Harry stirred softly, waking to sunlight peaking through the drawn cutains that hid the doorway to the balcony from sight. He was still in the Halls of Healing, despite how he had whined to Estel. It really was ridiculous. It had been a week since he had collapsed, and he hadn't had a single incident since. His leg was healing well, though it still stung a bit when he put allot of weight on it, and he couldn't walk for a long time without resting. The wound had shrunk noticeably, and Lord Elrond had wrapped and splinted it so that he could still move around a little bit, though, he was still being greatly restricted and hadn't been able to leave the Hall alone yet. Pushing himself up from where he lay, Harry blinked groggily. That was odd, since he had been here, it was not often that he awoke alone. There was always somebody looking out for him, making sure that nothing happened. It unnerved him somewhat, and yet Harry somehow found himself midly put out at their absence now.

He was being childish, he knew, and he tried to cull those feelings. He was _not_ a child, no matter how much he may look it. He had been making these slip-ups more and more often, especially when he was around Estel, and he didn't like it. It wasn't like him. He was a man, a warror, a...

'_uft'_

Harry lost his balence and tumbled from the bed.

"Oww" Harry groaned as he righted himself. Looking around to make sure nobody had seen, Harry pulled himself up using the bed, leaning heavily as he wobbled to his feet. Harry held onto the bar he was clutching for a moment as he steadied himself, he was still unused to such a tiny body and he was finding it difficult to keep his balence. Often he would move to do something to find that he was too light, or he would lean forwards to stop himself from toppling backwards and lean to far, causing him to fall onto his face.

Once Harry was sure that he would be able to support himself, Harry pushed off and headed towards the light cutains which were not fluttering gently in the slight wind. Ignoring the stabbing pain in his leg - he must have jolted it when he fell but he hadn't disturbed the dressing or anything, besides, he had had much worse - Harry pulled back the thin blue material and pushed his way out onto the balcony.

The balcony overlooked the valley in which Imladris lay, and Harry found it even more magnificent than it had been that first night he had lay eyes on it. All around him, trees were covered in leaves. Golden, amber, red, as the season dictated. The grounds too were covered in a blanket of leaves, the green grass hidden in some places. Harry couldn't see it, but the ruch of the river that flowed through and around Imladris surrounded him and a fresh smell that he had never known back in England filled his nostrals.

Harry allowed himself a small smile. Just as Estel had told him, Imladris was a wonderful palce, and Harry could just imagine the taller mans stories coming to life, could see the older man playing in the Autumn leaves. Now...if only he could see properly.

Harry found with a small huff that he couldn't even see over the top of the balcony. The gaps through the gaps in the balcony wall allowed him to peer out at the wonders of Imladris but he was sure that it would be a much better view if he could see the whole of it instead of one little bit at a time.

Grumbling to himself, Harry took a step backwards, another one. He stopped to preserve his balence and stop himself from tumbling backwards, before hurrying forwards, jumping slightly to grasp onto the top of the stone wall. He would be careful, he just wanted a closer look. Pulling himself up with his arms, with a little difficulty, Harry was eventually able to peer over the wall at Imladris. A grin flitted across his face, but was soon vanquished as his struggle to hold himself up with his arms became more and more obvious. With a groan, Harry let go and allowed himself to drop to the group.

"Ooof"

For the second time that morning, Harry's rear met the ground painfully. This time Harry simply sat there for a moment, before collection himself and staggering to his feet, rubbing at his painful rear as he did so.

"Harry?"

Harry whipped around, a guilty look on his face as the curtain was pulled aways from the doorway. Ithilwen - the eleth who had caught him during his first escape attempt - peered down him, the look of worry that was pasted across her face melting away as she saw him safe and whole. Harry had learnt that she worked with Lord Elrond in the Halls of Healing, as a healer, though she was nowhere near as good as Lord Elrond as such things. The woman seemed to have taken it upon herself to ensure that Harry remained well. She would push him to sleep, make sure he ate enough, and, to his embaressment, she felt the need to bathe him each evening before his leg was rebandaged.

Despite her constancy in his life in Imladris however, Harry did not feel the same bond with her as he had with Estel, and, though she had never been anything but kind to him, as with the other elves, Harry found himself unable to truly relax when in her presence.

"Harry?"

She said his name with the same lilting tennor that the other elves did. Harry's eyes snapped to her face again as she drew closer, holding out her hand to him, a comforting smile gracing her full lips. Like the other elves, Ithilwen was very pretty. She had long pale blonde hair, not dissimilar to that of Lord Glorfindel, that reached past her waist and pale blue eyes. She was a strong contrast to Ester and Harry would have thought, had he been an outsider looking in, that she would have been a perfect person, rather than Estel, to confide in, kind as she was. However, that was not the case, for reasons Harry did not himself understand. It wasn't that he disliked the eleth, he just wasn't comfortable with her.

Pushing himself from the floor, Harry took her offered hand, and keeping his eyes trained on the floor, allowed himself to be led back inside.

"Lord Elrond has requested to speak with you today if you feel well enough."

Harry frowned, he still hadn't figured out what he was going to say. If he just kept making things up he would be caught out for certain. However he could not just keep hiding from them or it would become obvious that he was hiding something. Harry nodded mutly as he was lifted into the slim arms and onto his bed.

She moved away from him for a moment to fetch his clothes, a light green dress-like robe that went to bellow his knees and pale leggings which he wore with a pair of thing cotton shoes. They wouldn't be any good for walking in but given what he had already experienced here, he didn't expect he'd be walking very far.

When Ithilwen returned with his clothing, Harry dutifully allowed her to dress him, lifting his arms and legs as need be. He had learnt quickly that his protests would go unheaded and so he sought to keep them to himself. Once he was dressed, Ithilwen took out a brush and went about combing it through his dark hair. It seemed that, though much longer, his hair was now far more manageable than the thick dark mop he had inheritted from his father. Indeed, the only thing Harry seemed to have carried over from his other life was the deep green eyes of his mother.

Once his hair had been brushed and pulled backwards over his shoulder, Ithilwen allowed him down from the bed, insisting on helping him depite the fact that he _must_ have been able to do so by himself in order to have gotton down and onto the balcony earlier on.

There was a knock over by the far side of the room, and Harry's head whipped round to see Estel standing in the doorway. He smiled at Ithilwen as she hurried over to him. Harry couldn't hear their hushed whispers and he doubted that, even if he could, he would understand them. They were probably talking in that wierd elven language again.

Harry was playing with the hem of his tunic-dress-robe thing when he found himself lifted up into the air. Harry couldn't help the squeal that left him as Estel dres him into his armed and he heard both Estel and Ithilwen chuckle at him, causing him to pout. This resulted in Estel tapping his bottom lip and giving him a stern glare. Harry just pouted harder.

Rolling his eyes, Estel thanked Ithilwen, and carried Harry off, out of the room, to meet with Lord Elrond, and who knew who else, where Harry felt, with a sick, heavy feeling in the pit of his stomache, he was sure to be caught out.

"So, Ithilwen tells me that you were out on the balcony this morning were you?"

As usual, it was Estel that broke the silence between them. Harry nodded.

"Did you like what you saw of Imladris then?"

Again, Harry nodded, before putting in,

"I couldn't really see over the way though." His reluctance to speak was slowly vanishing and it worried him, but he just couldn't help but want to talk to Estel. He didn't want the dark haired man to be upset with him.

He scrunched up his face.

"I fell." He didn't know why he did it, he knew how it would end. He leant up to show Estel to bruise that was quickly forming on his forearm.

Estel took the arm Harry offered and looked at the darkening skin. Frowning slightly, Estel pressed for more details. Where did he fall from? Did it hurt?

Suddenly shy again, Harry just covered his mouth with his free hand and shook his head, averting his eyes from Estel. Estel sighed as he withdrew, and suprising, Harry, pulled up the small wound to place a kiss on the blossoming bruise. Harry flushed. He wasn't a _child_. He may look like a little boy but he was still...he was still a grown man.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Estel watched as the boy gaped at him. It only lasted a second before Harry turned away from him, arms crossed, a pout fixed on his face, glaring at nothing. Estel heard a small chuckle fall from his lips. He had been with Harry for almost two weeks now, he knew more than to be taken in by the little boys tantrums. He would be forgiven in no time at all.

Ah, they had reached his Ada's study, where Lord Elrond, Lord Glorfindel and Erestor were no doubt already gathered. They did not want to overwealm the child, but Lord Elrond and Lord Glorfindel had already met him, and all three were important figures in Elven society. It was necessary that they speak with the child, and it was easier to simple hurry and get it over with quickly.

Estel knocked with one hand, the other securely holding Harry, who had by now stopped sulking and taken to hiding his face in Estel's shoulder. The boy was always so shy around others, and Estel knew how it must upset the elves, who would have never known a child to fear them. After being asked to enter, Estel pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Stepping towards the area where the three men were gathered, Estel greeted the three Lords and took one of the remaining seats, Harry still burrowed into his neck.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

As they reached the door that Harry knew to be Lord Elrond's study, Harry found himself gripped in a sudden whirlpool of shyness, and he burried his face in Estel shoulders. He heard the man knock, and a voice ordered them to enter. He could feel their gazes on him as they entered the room and attempted to get closer to Estel, away from those stares. It made him _so_ uncomfortable.

A.N: So sorry about the lateness. This is becoming a bit of a pattern lately. I did have the chapter almost finished, but then I was a complete twat and spilt milk all over my laptop, so I had to wait until I could borrow another one, and then write the chapter again, and it's all been a bit mentle. Thank-you though, it you've stuck through it.

Hopefully they'll be another update soon. And as always, please review.


	10. Truth and Lies

Harry twisted his fists into the material of Estel's tunic. He couldn't help the irrational fear that bubbled up inside him as Estel carried him further into the room. What would they say? He didn't know what to tell them. He couldn't tell them where he had come from. What if they tried to send him back? He couldn't go back, not when everyone he had loved had...gone...What if they were mean? Sure, Glorfindel and Mr Elrond had been very nice to him when he was in the hospital, but people were always nice to people in hospital weren't they? And he was much better now.

Harry was quickly starting to panic, and he felt Estel's hand rubbing his back softly in an attempt to calm him. Harry tried to even his breath, and after a few moments, found that he was much calmer because of it. He felt a dip as Estel sat down, and only clung tighter, determined not to be separated from Estel.

The last time he was with Estel and the twins together, the man had set Harry down and refuse to allow him back into the safe haven of his arms, in an attempt to get Harry to open up and interact with the elves. It hadn't worked. Harry had gone very shy, and all that the three older men were able to get from him were short, quiet responses. Estel hadn't tried it again since, though to be fair, they hadn't seen the twins since.

What was more, Harry really didn't fancy being dropped. Estel had never dropped him before, and Harry couldn't really remember being dropped when he really was a child, but all the same, he couldn't imagine that it would be pleasant, especially what with him being so...little (how he hated that word) now.

Then Estel stopped moving, and it became clear that he had now settled. The room was silent for a moment, as though the men around him were waiting something, 'him' his mind supplied. Still Harry refused to surface.

He could now hear the adults murmuring in that language, the one he couldn't understand. Harry pouted into Estel's tunic. They were doing this on purpose.

xoxoxox

Estel rubbed soothingly at Harry's back in an attempt to get the elfling to calm down - for that he was now beginning to panic was becoming apparent to everybody - and stop hiding his face. The boy was still dreadfully shy, though he really should have no reason to fear the elves, who would never allow anything to harm the boy. There had not been an elfling before born within Estel's lifespan, and so he had never known any bar Harry, however he was sure that there had never been an elfling so uncertain before.

When it became apparent that Harry was not going to resurface, Lord Elrond turned to Estel.

*Is he well?*

*I believe so*, Estel replied, *I believe he is merely nervous*

The elves shared a look. Why?

It was strange, an elfling turned up out of nowhere. Nobody knew where he was from, who his parents were, or what could have caused his distrust. Hopefully though, that would change today, so long as they could convince Harry to speak with them.

xoxoxox

Estel and the other elves had tried several times to coax him out from his hiding place, however they had soon stopped. Harry had hoped they could leave after that, but they merely continued to speak amongst themselves. He had heard his name a couple of times (though they still pronounced it oddly "Har-ray"), and knew exactly what the subject of their conversation was.

Harry's face was growing warm where it was nestled in Estel's shoulder, and he was sure that he was beginning to flush. He could feel the niggling curiosity regarding what they were talking about, and couldn't help but to want to be involved. This was something at least, that remained from the 'old' him, from back when he was...bigger.

He was still nervous of the taller males, but his burning curiosity, coupled with the heat, led to him slowly turning his head from Estel's shoulder. Immediately Estel's eyes dropped to his face, and he ducked his head, almost missing the brief glances from the others in the room. The others quickly turned away again however, and Harry allowed himself to settle, and become more comfortable.

Not being able to follow the conversation, due to the language barrier, Harry soon became bored and began to cast his gaze around the room.

They were in a high ceilinged room. Two walls were obscured entirely by thick, leatherbound books. They looked old, like some of the older books in the Hogwarts library. Hermione would have loved them. Harry felt sadness well up but pushed the feelings away. He would not cry in front of these people and give them more of a reason to baby him.

Behind them were a pair of impressive looking wooden doors. That was were they had entered. The doors were however now shut. To the left of them, a huge window took up most of the wall, presenting a stunning view of Imladris. Harry had already established that all of the city was stunning, though he had seen very little of it in actuality. It seemed like it.

Estel was seated upon an ornate wooden chair, which matched the three others that were currently occupied by the other males in the room. Beyond the two groups was a large wooden desk upon which, what appeared to be an atlas was sat, it's pages yellow with age.

During this analysis of his surroundings, Harry didn't notice how the attention of the others had returned to him. Estel drew Harry back into reality, and his realization came with a flush of pink embarrassment. Harry dipped his head in nervousness, but forced himself not to hide in Estel's shirt once more.

Besides Estel, there were three men in the room, two of which shared dark hair and eyes, and the other one, whom Harry knew to be Glorfindel, was a pale blonde. The man sat directly opposite them was dressed in dark robes and finery, and possessed high cheekbones and a regal air about him. This was Lord Elrond, who Estel had told him was Estel's father. Harry wasn't completely certain how a human could have an elvish father, but he had decided to just roll with it and not argue. To the left of Lord Elrond, sat Glorfindel. The third male who sat at Elronds right, Harry did not recognize. The way they were spread out facing them reminded Harry of a court room, and he thought briefly back to his encounter with the ministry in his fifth year. Of course, there wasn't likely to be a ministry left anymore was there? It was difficult to keep his mind away from such matters.

"Harry, tithen pen" Estel began. (*little one)

xoxoxox

Estel looked up at the elves in the room. They needed answers about the boy. Where he had come from and what he had been through? How he had damaged his leg? But he had just resurfaced, and they didn't want to scare him. He was already skittish enough. Regardless, it was necessary.

xoxoxox

"Har-ray" Elronds voice was rich and heavy. His words were well spoken, yet carried a lilt to it that betrayed the fact that it was not his primary language.

"Estel has told us how he found you in the forest. You were far from the nearest settlement, and further still from the closest of Elven Cities. If it is possible, would you be able to tell us how you got there?"

Starting easy. Not easy. How was Harry to explain this. 'Oh I was fighting in a war in this alternate universe and then I fainted and I woke up here like this'. Yes that would go over very well.

Harry glanced around the room before giving an awkward shrug. Really, what could he say. They had barely started with the questioning and he was already uncomfortable.

"Do you know where you parents are?"

Harry's face immediately dropped into a dark look. He didn't know where they were, he didn't really know who there were. He hadn't had the chance to know them.

"Do you know when the last time you saw them was?"

Harry again shrugged, "I didn't." He spoke without meaning to. His voice low - it was low considering his new pint sized form though really it wasn't all that low.

"You didn't?"

Digging himself into a hole already. Maybe he could pull himself out of it.

"I don't...I don't know..."

"Can you not remember?" Estel this time was looking down at him with concern in his eyes. Harry didn't say anything. He didn't want anyones pity. Harry averted his gaze to look across the room, out of the large window.

"Do you know where you were before you were in the woods?" It was Glorfindel who decided to take a step away from the clearly touchy subject of parents.

Harry squirmed where he sat. No doubt he would continue to be pressed for answers. If not now then later by Estel. He couldn't keep everything pressed against his chest or it would become obvious he was hiding something. But lieing would only cause more problems. He had never been a good liar and now with the constant nagging in the back of his mind to trust Estel, which he was not going to give into, he would undoubtedly trip himself up. But it wasn't like he could just tell the truth.

Could he?

No. That was stupid, what had Moody always said. CONSTANT VIGILANCE. Just because they seemed nice, it didn't mean that they were nice. They did seem nice though.

"At home."

Harry's voice was smaller than he would have liked. It was true though. Hogwarts was the first place he could ever really call home. It was home.

"Who was at home? With whom did you grow up with? Were they of elven blood?"

...There were houselfs at home. Dobby had worked in the kitchens hadn't he. Harry knew that Glorfindel probably thought that his queries all came down to the same thing. But he hadn't been raised by the people in his home. And the people who had raised him were most definitely not part elf. Pig perhaps, but not elf. Harry shook his head.

"You were not raised by elves?"

xoxoxox

Estel was beginning to understand now. If Harry had not been raised by his parents, or any elf at all, it was entirely possible that Harry had not spent much time around the elfs. That would explain his skittishness.

It would also explain how the child had ended up in such a condition. No elf would have allowed even the thought of and elfling being harmed, but it was not a secret that those of other kind - the dwarfs and the men - were not nearly as protective over their young. It would have been easy for the child to have wondered into danger. Though how he could have wondered into such a secluded area was a mystery. Could it have been that the child had been abandoned?

It was entirely possible, and this would make clear why Harry seemed so frightened of parting from Estel. The boy was constantly clinging to his tunic, as if afraid of being left behind, or taken away. If Harry had been abandoned, this could be a symptom of trauma.

If he had been abandoned, was it by his guardians? Or had he been taken by some other person? Had his injuries been sustained after he had been left? Or were they inflicted by whomever had abandoned him?

How had he even been left in the care of his guardians. If his parents were dead, then any elf would have gladly accepted such a treasure. Why would he had been left to a man - for Estel thought it much be a man, for he doubted the dwarfs would have accepted an elven child at all, what with the animosity felt recently between the two races - instead of in one of the elven realms?

If his parents were still alive - for Harry had not stated otherwise - where were they? Why had they lost him and never told anybody nor searched for him? How could they have lost him in the beginning?

xoxoxox

Harry didn't move to confirm or deny the statement. He was going to trip himself up. He just knew it. This was all going to come around and bite him. He just wanted to go home.

"Who were you raised by?"

Harry just shrugged. He was beginning to get sleepy again - ridiculous considering he hadn't even been awake very long - and he knew that as he got more tired, he would get more loose tongued. Plus, he didn't really know what to say anyway.

Without thinking, Harry twisted on Estel's lap and hid his face again. It was not until a few moments afterwards that Harry realized how he was acting like a child.

He was not a child.

xoxoxox

It was plain to see that Harry was not going to speak with them any further on the matter today. He was clearly uncomfortable and growing more so as the conversation had continued. Still, Estel attempted to coax the little one out from his hiding place, to no avail, before excusing themselves. Standing, he bid good day to the three Lords, and took his exit.

Estel headed straight for Harry's rooms. They soon reached their destination and Estel set the boy upon his head. Night clothes had already been laid out for him - Ithilwen was well accustomed by now to Harry's irregular sleeping patterns - and Estel hurried to change the child. Harry was of course, no help at all. He scowled as his tunic was pulled over his head and kicked his legs when Estel went to remove his leggings. He continued to insist that he wasn't tired even after his nightgown had been pulled over his legs. Estel could see how the boys eyes drooped though and he didn't miss the yawn Harry let out as he pulled his arms through his sleeves.

Harry tucked the sheets tightly around the boy, and Harry let out one last, quiet protest.

"M' no' a baby."

Oh what a liar the young elf was.

**AN. I'm back baby. And here to stay. **

**Sorry for not writing for so long. I was mobbed by plot bunnies...and various fandoms...it's a long story...**

**I did have this chapter finished a couple of days ago but lo and behold. The moment it's ready, the internet breaks down.**

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed and stayed with me regardless.**

**I think that for this story I'm going to stick with the genres I've got so far and follow Harry's childhood rather than rushing into romance. I may do a sequel afterwards about his adult life if the idea is popular. You can choose to read that or disregard it completely. It's up to you. **

**Blade: Don't worry, Galadriel will be coming into the story line. As for whether she realizes Harry came from a different universe. No, she won't immediately know. The reasons behind this will be revealed in due time. As for being anti-social. Trust me, Harry will start to open up, but at the moment he has just come from a war to be surrounded by strange people and he is at the moment severely disadvantaged. **


	11. Of Twins and Hiding Places

The Lady Galadriel sat alone as she mused. The news had come quickly once it had been sent, and curse Elrond for not sending it sooner. He had delayed, she knew despite how he attempted to avoid admitting to it. An elfling had been located wandering the woodland, far from civilization, or any semblance of home. Elrond had not explained in full, the distance between the two realms meant that extending ones consciousness to communicate with the other was draining and so all explanations had been quick, though thorough. The Lady had not had an opportunity to question the elf Lord. Galadriel also wondered to herself if his aversion had anything to do with avoiding her fury at being left blind.

How odd for an elfling to appear out of nowhere with no sign to where he had come from. No elf had known anything off the child. The fact that this child had appeared was both a blessing and a trouble. Of course, no elf would begrudge the child. His birth should have been celebrated instead of going unnoticed, and his appearance now, though worrying, would have to do instead.

Sauron darkness was quickly spreading across the land, and the appearance of an elfling would no doubt create chaos within the Elven realms. There had not been an elfling born in many centuries, and the reaction that it would cause was not advantageous at this time. The elven realms did not need to be contesting with one another over the attentions of the boy currently.

In contrast, the arrival of the child was an emblem of hope in the ever darkening times. Something bright in the darkness that gave them something more to protect, and no doubt the boy would be protected. Having arrived in such a manner and in such a condition, Galadriel did not doubt that it would be many moons before his carers allowed him out of their sight. Galadriel almost pitied him.

xoxoxox

Harry had been in Imladris for a little less than a month now. He was no longer residing in the 'Halls of Healing' as Estel had called them, and was now staying in a spacious, though rather sparse room. The bed was large and comfortable, though perhaps it was of a regular size and it was his sudden reduction in size that led him to see it so large. The room was not overly comfortably like Griffindor tower had been, nor delightfully cosy like the Burrow. It wasn't even regally dark like Sirius' old house had been. Instead it was light and airy, with a constant fresh flow of air coming from the large windows that opened onto a balcony. Why did all the rooms seem to have huge windows? Estel had mentioned how he had noticed how much time Harry had spent on the balcony in the Halls of Healing and so had arranged for Harry's new living quarters to have one too.

As the past three weeks had gone by, Harry had grown to be a little more comfortable in his surroundings. He was by no means at ease around anybody (except maybe Estel, but Estel was Estel and Estel was special so...) but he was no longer constantly clinging to Estel's shirt like a child (only sometimes) and he was beginning to become more comfortable around the twins - who were somehow Estel's brothers despite being part of a different species. Then again, he was a part of a different species to himself two months ago, who was he to comment. He still refused to be left alone with them, but he liked them well enough. They were funny. They made him laugh like he hadn't in ages.

The told him funny story's of when Estel was a child himself, and about how he had followed around their sister like a lost puppy - those weren't the exact words they had used by the idea was the same. Harry had wrinkled his nose in contemplation. If the twins were Estels brothers, and Arwen was their sister, didn't that make her Estel's sister as well? He had voiced this thought, provoking boisterous laughter from the twins, and a slight reddening of Estel's cheeks.

It reminded him of how Fred and George used to tease Ron. Of course, Estel handed it far better than Ron ever had, though Estel was much older than Ron so perhaps it was just something that he had gotten used to. Perhaps, given the chance, Ron would have become used to it eventually...if he had ever gotten the chance to live his life.

The wound in Harry's leg had almost disappeared, and only caused him pain if he leant on it for too long or it he provoked it. Not that he had had much of a chance to lean of it for very long. Estel had continued with his insistence that Harry shouldn't be walking anywhere, and that she should be carried instead. This was becoming a bit of a nuscience, and it would only get worse.

Harry had noticed, in the rare chance that he was allowed to transport himself, that this new him was lighter than the other one was. Even as a human child he had not found movement quite so easy. He was faster and more agile as an elf and so he often over compensated when he moved, making him steady on his feet. Perhaps this contributed to Estel's need to mollycoddle him. But really, if he was going to stop falling over, he needed to practice walking, and he couldn't do that if Estel was going to carry him everywhere.

He was going to get bigger, wasn't he? He should be learning now, while he was still little and it was less embarrassing. If he got bigger and he was still falling everywhere, he'd look like a complete idiot. What was more, it was hardly inconspicuous, not being able to walk. Somebody would soon pick up on it, and notice that it wasn't right. Besides, Estel couldn't carry him around forever.

It wasn't just Estel either. Every time he saw an elf, whether it be the twins in the private gardens, or Lord Glorfindel in the hallway, they always seemed a little too worried about his welfare. It was unnerving. He knew that he'd never had a normal childhood with the Dursley's to compare it with, but they hadn't even shown Dudley the amount of care that Harry was receiving. And the Dursley's adored Dudley.

It was in an attempt to avoid this worrying that Harry had managed to find himself alone in the private gardens. It was a very beautiful area. And it was private, which was ideal really. Harry had so far managed to avoid going into many crowded areas, he wasn't comfortable around the few people he knew, let alone a crowd of strangers, and whenever they (himself and Estel) had met somebody in the corridor, they had cooed and fussed and made things generally awkward for him. He hadn't even gotten this kind of attention when he had first entered the wizarding world. And that was saying something.

The garden was beautiful, far more so than Aunt Petunia's garden had ever managed to be, despite the womans efforts to ensure otherwise. Harry couldn't hope to identify any of the flowers, though some did seem similar to some that he had seen at home. A small body of clear water sparkled in the morning sun, if it could be called morning anymore. It was just before noon, and Harry had only recently awoken. Harry was not used to sleeping so late in the day, the Dursley's had always had a long list of chores for Harry to complete, and had never permitted him to sleep in, while at Hogwarts, Harry had lessons to go to and four other boys with whom he shared a room. It was difficult to stay asleep when there were four teenage boys stumbling around the room.

Harry blamed it on his injury and how the elfs had fussed to ensure that he was sleeping as many hours as they could coax him to sleep for. Luckily however, his sleeping pattern was beginning to regain some normality, with Harry no longer falling asleep at random times with the day, or waking up restless in the middle of the night. That was not to say that these things never happened, but it was far less often than it had previously been.

Harry's nightmares had also become less common, coming every two or three nights, rather than every night. This seemed to satisfy Estel, who had worried furiously when he had discovered how poorly Harry was sleeping.

Harry had hidden himself from view beneath an old tree with hanging branches that reminded him of a willow tree. Of course, unlike the willow tree at Hogwarts, this one didn't attack him, for which Harry was glad. It wouldn't do to sustain another injury so quickly after the last one.

He had been in the garden for what seemed to be almost a half hour, and as he stretched out in the silence, the smell of nature in his nostrils, Harry could almost imagine being back at Hogwarts, waiting for Ron and Hermione to catch him up, or perhaps for Ginny to finish her last class before lunch and come and join him.

The illusion was shattered by somebody calling for Harry.

xoxoxox

Harry had disappeared. He had been told by Ithilwen that she had roused him an hour before noon, and had ensured that he was dressed, and that he ate something. After this, she had not seen anything of him. This was always going to be a problem. While it was wonderful to see that the elfling was recovering swiftly, it was impossible to be constantly watching him, and as he became more mobile, Harry was going to be wandering off more, causing more trouble. Estel could remember being a similar age to Harry, and, remembering what sort of trouble he had gotten into as a youngster, he dreaded to think of what the boy could run into.

He wasn't hugely worried about where Harry was at that moment in time. He was sure that the child would not leave Imladris, and true danger couldn't reach the child within the boundaries of the realm, however it was still possible for Harry to aggravate his wound or to injure himself. Estel could recall several times where the boy had fallen, or had almost fallen, and, while Harry had never injured himself beyond a few light bruises, Estel knew it would just be a matter of time before Harry climbed something a bit too high and fell, and really harmed himself.

It was the way of children.

Estel had broken his own arm once, attempting to climb a willow tree in the houses private gardens. He had been slightly older than Harry was at that point, but he could none-the-less remember the shock and pain he had felt when his bone snapped. Harry was younger, and had seen more than Estel had himself at the time, but there would doubtlessly be tears should there be a repeat incidence.

It would be just the kind of thing that a stubborn elfling like Harry would do as well.

With this in mind, Estel began to search for Harry. The boy needed to eat lunch soon too. He had broken his fast recently, but it was important that the boy ate at least three meals a day, whilst not disturbing his sleep. Now that Harry was healing, they were trying to settle him into a routine where he would sleep through the night. Given the nightmares that still plagued the child, this was proving to be difficult.

xoxoxox

Harry twisted around the peer past the thick base of the tree, his hands coming up to rest against the bark as he settled on his knees. He listened hard, as the voice grew louder and softer again, as whomever was searching for him - probably Estel - moved past him.

Harry cried out as he was swept off of the ground, and into strong arms.

'_**Again with the carrying.' **_

"Well met, _tithen pen_" twin voices chorused.

Identical faces peered down at him, set with matching grins. Harry had seen that grin on the twins at home, and suddenly he felt the need to feel very afraid.

"I fear you have led our brother upon a merry chase - " Twin number 1 began.

"We saw him searching for you, we did - "

"So we decided, it was our duty - "

"As Sons of this household - "

"To ensure that no harm had come to you - "

"And to prevent Estel from finding you too we suppose - "

"Let him worry a little you know - "

"He always worries too much - "

"He'll probably enjoy it - "

"Odd sort of person, our Estel is."

Harry's was beginning to feel a little dizzy, as he tried to follow what the twins were saying, his head going from side to side as he followed who was speaking. He'd gotten out of practice.

"So then _tithen pen_," the elf that was holding him - Elladan? - began.

"We should perhaps move onwards, away from here - "

"To a place Estel has already checked, where he will not search again - "

"For a while at least."

With that, Elladan tightened his grip on Harry, who, somewhat cautiously buried his hands into his shirt. The trio then swiftly left the gardens, the twins moving faster than Harry could due to their long legs and adult frame. Harry found himself somewhat jealous.

**AN: A little shorter than usual, but I wanted to get it out there.**

**Thank-you to everybody who reviewed.**

**Blade Draco**** : Here you go, Galadriel.**

**Sblck **** : Legolas, I'm not sure about, he will come into it eventually, whether it be now, or in the potential sequel, I'm not sure. Arwen, I'm going with the idea that she is currently residing in Imladris, so so far I'm planning to introduce her when Galadriel turns up. **

**PadfootPet**** : The orgininal draft of the story had Harry with an elven name, but I think that if I were in the place of Harry, I'd have real trouble adjusting to a new name, and I think I'd appreciate a little bit of familiarity. He'll probably end up with an elven nickname somewhere along the line. Like a pet name from Estel, but so far, I'm planning to keep Harry.**

**AnimeIceFox**** : Thanks for pointing it out. Because of the problems with milk on the computer and now having a second hand one that was wiped, I don't have spell check, so words that I can't spell often don't end up corrected, because I might not even realise that I've gone wrong. As well as this, and this involves the name thing as well, I've been told by teachers, even as a kid, that I write so quickly, which causes me to muddle things up. Because I'm concentrating on whats coming next rather than what I am actually typing at the time. It's something I'm trying to work on.**


	12. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Harry raced away from his pursuer. He was still a little shaky, but thankfully, after a month of being in Imladris, he had begun to become more adjusted to his new size and to his newly healed leg. He still felt he had a while to go, he still fell over more than he would like, but there was definitly improvement, and now, there was hardly any pain. Certainly Lord Elrond was no Madame Pomferey, but considering he couldn't just magic the wound closed, Harry's healing process Harry had ever known. Not one of the muggle doctors he knew of had been as efficient.

Harry could remember once when they were children, Dudley had broken his arm falling off of a swing set, and that had taken forever to heal. It had to be put in a cast, and even when the cast came off, Dudley had still complained that it had hurt terribly. Of course, that may have been a bit of an exaggeration on Dudley's part. Contrary to popular belief, Dudley wasn't stupid. Even as a child he had worked out that acting upset resulted in endless sympathies and excessive attempts from Aunt Petunia to distract him. These distractions more often than not came in the form of some sugary treat.

Harry ducked around a tree, diving through some low hanging branches and further into the green woodland. Behind him, the elf following shouted, and Harry laughed despite himself. It felt good to laugh, even if it was at something as ridiculous as a children's game of hide and seek.

He thought that adults, and he still very much thought of himself as an adult, could probably learn something from this. Laughing felt good, people should do this more often. Fred and George had known that.

Twisting again, Harry half tripped, and half leapt into a large shrub, where he crouched and hid, stifling himself by pressing a fist against his lips. He listened hard, staying very still and straining to hear somebody approaching. The twins hadn't been that far behind him, he was sure.

Still minutes passed, and Harry began to grow wary when there was no sign of his companions. What if they had gone the wrong way? What if they had gone back without him?

That had happened to him once, he had been invited to play with some of the local kids, and somebody had decided that they should play hide and seek. Harry had hidden under the climbing frame in the park. He had been there for five hours.

It was thus that after what seemed like hours, but really was only a few minutes, Harry cautiously poked his head from his hiding place, glancing around as though expecting somebody to be lying in weight. On seeing the coast to be clear he pushed himself up with his hands, emerging fully from the undergrowth.

He tensed, dragging in a breath to scream when he was grabbed from behind and litfted into the air. His immediate reaction was to claw at the arms, to try and free himself, however he didn't actually manage to do much before his mind caught up with him.

He had been lifted into a more secure hold, cradled against a large chest, and the laughing tones had transformed into comforting murmurs whispered in his ear. He buried his head in the chest, ashamed at his reaction, and at the fear which still lingered in his belly. He started to cry.

"Hush _tithen pen_, its alright. We did not intend to frighten you."

"We are very sorry for doing so."

"It's alright. You're safe here."

"We swear it. Nothing will hurt you here."

Harry was trying desperately to stop his tears. His shoulders were shaking violently as he kneaded at his eyes. Why was he crying? He hasn't cried in years. He had learnt early on that nothing ever came from tears. Particularly tears shed over nothing. It was nothing. Just a little startle. It shouldn't have upset him at all.

His body trembled, and he pushed his face further into the shirt of the elf holding him. The soft words continued, and a hand stroked his hair gently as he was carried back to the house.

XOXOX

The twins were uncharacteristically grave as they spoke. Harry had continued to sob, and the two had begun to worry that perhaps something greater than his shock was ailing him. Their first response was to search for their _ada_. Upon failing to find him in the healing halls however, they had to settle for Estel, who had been directed to them by one concerned elf.

While Estel was certainly no substitute for Lord Elrond, or even for Ithilwyn, he did manage to calm the elfling down somewhat. After settling in his arms, the child's tears tapered into short, quiet whimpers.

Having assured themselves that he was in no other way harmed, but in agreement that he had clearly exhausted himself, it was decided that Harry should rest, and he had been put to bed.

As soon as they were sure that he was asleep, Estel turned to his brothers with questioning eyes, begging an explanation for the distress still visible in his charge. His concern only grew when Elrohir spoke of Harry's reaction.

The twins were clearly upset at their actions, blaming themselves, but Estel didn't believe for a moment that this was their fault. They should perhaps, though not knowing his history, but knowing of his dreadful injuries when he had been found, have been more careful with the shy child, but from the sound of things it had been nothing more than what he would have thought regular play. It was something that children everywhere did, was it not. He could remember playing such games himself with Elrohir and Elladan – even Arwen at times - during his childhood years. Besides, Estel knew well enough that his brothers would sooner die than cause harm to a child - elf or otherwise.

That Harry had reacted so violently to what should have been a harmless reaction was worrying. Once more Estel wondered as to what kind of life Harry had led up to this point, that he was so afraid of simple play.

Furthermore, it concerned Estel that Harry had been unable to calm without him. The child had seemed inconsolable. According to the twins he had not calmed in the slightest until he had been with Estel. Certainly he was pleased that the child was growing to trust him, but it appeared that he still was unable to relax amongst the elves. He still was unable to speak around other elves, and would avoid their company where he could. Even the twins, who he had thought the elfling to be more at ease with had not been fully accepted.

It was important that the elfling did not become entirely dependent on him, that he began to understand that the elves would never hurt him. Loathed though he was to leave the elfling, Estel was aware that he could not remain in Imladris indefinitely. Harry would be safe with the elves, and though Estel would visit as often as possible, he had other jobs that he could not justify abandoning to remain at home.

They would have to discuss this with Lord Elrond once he returned.

XOXOX

Harry woke to a dim room. He was wrapped tightly in soft linen, and the dark curtain had been drawn, blocking most of afternoon sun. He was back in his own rooms. Slowly the happenings of the morning came flooding back, and Harry had groaned aloud. He had acted like such a baby. He could only assume that Estel had put him to bed, and now that he focused on it, he could almost recall somebody singing to him, though perhaps he had been dreaming that.

He couldn't believe he had cried.

Subconsciously Harry rubbed at one eye, looking around once more. He still felt weary, but he did not think that he would be able to sleep further. He didn't want to sleep further.

Shrugging of the blankets, Harry dropped to the floor. He had lost his outer shirt and shoes, but otherwise it appeared that he had been allowed to sleep fully clothed.

That saved him having to get dressed.

Harry stood shakily and padded across the room. Reaching up he gripped the handle and pulled towards himself, apparently with more force that he had though. The door swung open quickly and he tripped backwards out of the way, falling onto his rear.

Looking up he found Estel stood in the doorway, concern evident on his face. In his hands he held a large silver plate, piled up with fruits.

Before he could embarrass himself further he pushed himself to his feet and scrambled out of the way, hurrying back to the bed. Of course Estel - having much longer legs - was much faster, and swiftly placed the plate on the table beside the bed. Turning, he lifted Harry and placed him back on the bed, tucking the blankets around his legs.

"Are you alright?"

Harry nodded, pushing his face into a smile.

Estel did not look too convinced, a worried crease still visible on his forehead.

"We did not wish to disturb you, so I have brought you something to eat so that you did not have to rise for dinner."

Harry's reply was quiet.

"Thank-you."

Estel smiled in response. He was still worrying, Harry could tell. More than he usually did.

Estel reached for the plate, offering Harry the fruit, and waited until the child had eaten his fill before continuing.

He gently carded his fingers through Harry's hair as he spoke.

"Harry... If you should ever wish to speak to somebody... regarding your history, your family... I will listen."

The child beside him tensed, looking downwards. For a moment Harry was completely still, before he jerked his head to the side in what looked to be a subconscious movement and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Perhaps... but not now."

"Of course child."

**A.N**

**Hey guys. **

**HAPPY EASTER**

**This is far far shorter than I was planning it to be, but the second half of the chapter is lost somewhere on one of my memory sticks, and I'm late for an Easter egg hunt. :( I'll try to locate it an upload it tomorrow if not tonight. **

**Thank you to everybody who stuck with me during that very very long hiatus. I do apologise for that. I will continue to keep writing, however I'm not sure how regular updates will be so I make no promises, particularly because we're now entering exam season. I'll do my best though. **


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